Seth opened their eyes and tested their voice.

"Sugar?" Words. Words, words! They could speak again. They could talk, and Morgan was right there, listening.

"Seth," Morgan sobbed, reaching and taking their hand. Seth was too frail to hug right now, too frail to cling to, so they would make do with holding hands.

Seth had endured a lot of abuse at the hands of Liv and Chris, abuse that was hard to forget even now. But the joy of being home and being able to talk to Morgan and hold her hand almost made everything okay.

"You saved me," Seth said, eyes shining with love.

"I had some help. Booker?" The laser man stepped into the room and Seth immediately recognized him.

"You work with Sadie, don't you?"

"I do."

"So Sadie knows about all of this? Is she okay?"

"She doesn't know everything but she knew you were missing and she knows you're okay now."

"Am I okay?" Seth asked, reaching to feel the heavy wings on their back.

"Yeah," Morgan said, her voice cracking, "Yeah, you will be. We will be. I think we will be. We can learn to live with this. The important thing is that you're home now."

"Yeah," Seth agreed, feeling uneasy and exhausted.

"I'll give you some space," Booker said.

"Nonsense. We owe a lot to you. Seth, we don't have to talk about it now, but I was thinking maybe we could rent out our spare room to Booker? For a while, at least. Because right now he lives in Good Luck Alley…"

"We really don't have to talk about it now," Booker said, "Seth is clearly exhausted and you deserve some time for yourselves."

"It's okay," Seth mumbled, too tired to properly process the trauma, "We can rent out our spare room. You saved me after all." Seth smiled sleepily at Booker.

"It was nothing. I mean. I'm glad to have done it. I would do it again. I know we just met but I'm really glad you're safe."

"Sadie and Dalton and Bennet were right about you," Seth said absent-mindedly.

"Oh yeah?"

"You're nice. And hot."

Booker looked flustered, "Which one of them called me hot?"

"Bennet."

"Oh, well, Bennet thinks everyone is hot," Booker said, still flustered.

"That's an oversimplification-" Morgan started and then a realization dawned on her, "I left Kei and Bob alone."

With that, Morgan rushed out of the room and Booker and Seth were left to awkwardly get to know each other.

Kei and Obake were getting to know each other too, in a very literal and not at all sexy way. Kei was wearing more clothes now, having borrowed some of her own merch from Morgan, who had insisted Kei could keep it if she wanted. Now they were sitting on Morgan's couch, while Kei played with Lulu and Obake snuck glances at Kei.

Morgan stalled in the doorway to the living room and watched them.

"I'm glad you're safe," Obake finally said, "I was worried."

Kei looked up in surprise and blushed.

"Thanks for caring about me, 'Bake."

Now Obake was the one who looked flustered. No one had ever called him 'Bake before. It was a lot nicer than Bob.

"Listen…" Obake said, rubbing his chin and trying to figure out how to bring this up.

"I'm listening." Kei smiled brightly at him. She was exhausted but pushing it off. She was trying to be present in this moment, this early morning daydream with a cute cat and a cute guy who had never paid her this much attention before. Later she would break down alone in her bedroom but right now she was here, right? So right now she was smiling.

Her smile gave Obake courage.

"I was wondering if you wanted to date me. Er. Go on a date with me." No drawn-out setup, no confession, just a simple question with a hopefully simple answer.

Kei was stunned.

"You… You want to go on a date with me? Why?"

Okay. Perhaps it wouldn't be that simple. No, of course not. Nothing ever was.

"Well, Kei, I don't know what to say. Why wouldn't I want to go on a date with you? You're beautiful, intelligent, and the kindest person I've ever met. You risked your life for someone you'd just met, someone who had just broken into your apartment. Most people don't do that. And, well, I wouldn't have done that. It's what I admire the most about you. How you're always willing to help people who might not be so deserving of your help. Like… Me."

From the doorway, Morgan gave Obake a thumbs up and Obake pretended he hadn't noticed.

"Oh, 'Bake…" Kei looked at him with stars in her eyes and then glanced away.

"You really think I'm beautiful? Like this?" She rolled up her sleeves to reveal the purple splotches on her arms and hands.

"Hm," Obake said, taking her hand and pressing it against his glowing cheek.

"I think you're more than beautiful. I think we match."

"Like we were meant to be," Kei said in a whisper, before leaning in and surprising Obake with a kiss, still cradling his face in her hand.

Obake nearly swooned and Morgan went back into the bedroom.

Booker was sitting on the bed near Seth, looking a little sheepish.

"I'm sorry if I did anything to cause your un-mutation to go wrong. I didn't really know what I was doing and kinda just went for it… Sorry if I fucked up your life forever."

"You didn't fuck up my life," Seth said with a tired laugh, "you're not my mom."

Booker laughed, "I'll drink to that, mate."

"Mommy issues?" Seth asked, not coherent enough to realize they were casually using the word mommy with a guy they'd just met.

"Daddy issues," Booker said, coherent enough to realize that he was using the word daddy in front of a person he had just met and going for it anyway.

"But fuck those guys, right? It just makes me want to be a better parent and a better person."

"I'll drink to that," Seth agreed, "The person part. I don't have kids. Unless you count Lulu and Beans. My brother dumped those on me-" Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door.

"Um… I'll go see who that is," Morgan said.

"I should really get going, I have work tonight," Booker said, standing.

"I'll see you out. Be back in a minute, love," Morgan said, smiling lovingly at Seth before going to check on the door.

They passed where Kei and Obake were making out on the couch and then paused by the door.

"Thank you again for helping. We owe you a lot. Hopefully, the spare room thing works out, but you're right, we can definitely talk about it another time."

Then Morgan opened the door.

"Hi, Booker," Sadie said.

"Hi, Sadie. I'm gonna get going…"

"Mm-hm. See you at work. Thank you for helping Seth."

Booker smiled, "It was my pleasure. Bye Sadie, bye Dalton, Bennet. Um. I don't know your name but goodbye to you as well."

The fourth person standing on Morgan's porch didn't bother introducing himself to Booker, just gave a little grunt and a nod. He was wearing prescription sunglasses and a baggy hoodie and he looked like the only thing that was keeping him alive now was caffeine, or perhaps a harder drug.

"My brother," Sadie said with a sigh and an eyeroll, "Simon."

"Sup," Simon mumbled, peering past Morgan into the house, "where's Seth?"

"Oh, uh… They're in the bedroom, resting." Now, Morgan was happy to share all of the details of Seth's capture and subsequent mutation with Sadie and the boys, but Simon? Simon didn't exactly scream trustworthy. He'd always floated in and out of Seth and Sadie's lives, more like an occasional inconvenience than an older brother.

"I'll go tell them you're here. Stay out here for a moment." Morgan closed the door, ordered the lovebirds into the basement or out the back, and then went to warn Seth.

"Sadie and the boyfriends are here. And Simon."

"Simon? Holy hell… That puts this whole thing into perspective if Simon is here. I genuinely can't remember the last time that asshole was worried about me… Oh god, you must have been really worried too."

"Terrified," Morgan said, taking and squeezing Seth's hand, "But I'm alright now. We're alright now. Should I let them come in?"

"I think you have to. I mean, they're my family."

"Yeah, but you still get to choose."

"Well, I want to see Sadie and the suspects, and I'm not going to send Simon away. Just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't steal anything."

"Will do."

Morgan went back out and let Simon and the others in, having noticed that Obake and Kei had snuck out the back. Hopefully, everything would work out for those two, Morgan would check in on them later. Now she had to deal with her injured partner and her in-laws. She did like calling them her in-laws, did like envisioning her and Seth married someday…

"So, what exactly happened?" Dalton asked, bringing Morgan back to reality.

"Well, Seth was kidnapped by those people who have been mutating the city's villains and then Seth also got mutated, and then Booker and I rescued them, but, I have to warn you, they're still partially mutated."

"That sounds like a fanfiction-" Simon started before seeing his sibling sitting weakly up on the bed, huge wings spread out against the bedframe.

"You have a bedframe? When did you get bougie?" Simon asked.

"Oh my god, Simon. Don't be a dick. Seth's just been through something traumatic. They were fucking mutated. Look at their hair," Sadie said.

"Wait. What happened to my hair?" Seth asked, "Because I was aware of the wings and the fangs but if something happened to my hair I might actually cry."

"Oh," Sadie tried to smile, "It's okay, don't worry about it. It just went back to brown. We can re-dye it."

Seth ran their hand through their hair and then held it in front of their face, looking genuinely upset about this revelation.

"Now I look like you," Seth sniffled.

Sadie patted Seth's shoulder, "Oh, honey, I mean this in the nicest way possible, you look nothing like me. Outside of normal twin stuff obviously."

"You'd be lucky to look like me," Simon snorted.

"Dude, you look like shit," Bennet spoke up for the first time.

Simon scowled at him, "Which one are you? Benedict?"

Dalton scowled now and stepped defensively in front of his boyfriend.

"Let's not pick any fights," Sadie suggested. Morgan had completely given up on this situation and was helplessly watching the five of them interact while Lulu played at her feet.

"Yeah, okay," Simon said with a shrug. Then he turned his attention back to Seth.

"For real, Seth, are you okay?"

"No, my hair is brown and I was electrocuted probably sixty times last night."

"Well, your hair will be fine. But damn. Sixty times? That's rough. Do you need anything?"

Seth opened their mouth to speak but found themself silent again, not even able to screech. What could they say? To Sadie and the suspects, they could ask for a little help with meals or the cats or the garden, or just someone to hang out with when things got bad. But their brother wasn't a constant, wasn't reliable. If Seth asked something from Simon, he'd just flake.

"No. But thank you for being here." That was enough. That was more than he'd done in a while.

"Yeah…" Simon hung his head a little as if he was aware of his crown of shame.

"Seth?" He said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah?"

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when mom kicked you out. Fuck her, right? You deserved better. I'm glad you have a good support system." They both knew he would never be a part of that support system. He was only ever there when he needed something, with this being the first exception Seth could think of in a long time.

"Yeah, fuck her. I have family outside of mom and dad. I really am okay."

"Are you going to tell them?" Sadie asked.

"What?"

"Mom and dad, are you going to tell them about the mutation? It seems pretty permanent."

"It might be. It might not be. I'll learn to live with it, I've lived with worse. At least the wings don't make me feel dysphoric, although I will have to get used to them. I guess I might tell dad, and if he wants to tell mom he can. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll send me another Get Well Soon card with money in it."

Seth frowned suddenly and looked at Morgan, "I don't think I have a job anymore."

"Yeah, but you probably have another lawsuit on your hands. We can sue the bastards who mutated you," Morgan pointed out.

"I don't wanna be the lawsuit guy," Seth said with a grown, "I don't wanna make all my money from being fucked over. I want to do something with my skills."

"You will," Simon said, "You're smart. Both of you." He nodded at Seth and Sadie in turn.

"Are you feeling okay, Simon?" Sadie asked.

He shrugged a little, "A few days ago you told me Seth was missing. Maybe I'm trying to be a slightly better brother."

"Thank you for trying," Seth said. They didn't want to deal with Sadie and Simon fighting right now, or Dalton and Bennet picking a fight or any of it. They didn't want this to be another family reunion that turned into a brawl. They were far too tired for that.

"Yeah, well. I owe you that. I mean, you've taken such good care of Sugar and Spice."

"Who?" Seth asked.

"The cats."

"You mean Lulu and Beans?" Morgan asked.

"You renamed my cats?"

"Well, they're not your cats anymore, are they?" Morgan pointed out.

Simon sulked, "Yeah, okay, whatever. Beans. Who names a cat Beans…"

"I did," Seth said.

"Oh."

"You don't have to like the name I chose for them, it's whatever. But those are their names now." Seth couldn't help remembering a time, a few years earlier, when Simon had once mentioned that he liked Seth's deadname more than their chosen name. Seth hadn't completely gotten over that… Simon didn't seem to remember, he'd never exactly apologized. He just used the correct name and pronouns now and that just had to be enough.

"Fair enough. They look good though. They're clearly happy here." Beans was sleeping in the fold of Seth's wings, and Lulu was continuing to play at Morgan's feet.

"I think they are happy here," Seth agreed, "And we're happy to have them."

"They're our girls," Morgan agreed.

They talked a little longer before it became abundantly clear that Seth was about to pass out. Before they left Sadie pulled Morgan into a long, forgiving hug and promised to come back later with some food.

Then Morgan collapsed into a chair she'd pulled up next to the bed.

"Family is exhausting," Seth mumbled.

"Sometimes I'm glad that it's just me and mom," Morgan said, "And Holly."

"Does Holly count? You never see her."

"Does Simon count?"

Seth barked a tired laugh, "Point taken. Siblings are weird, man. I see Bennet and Dalton way more than I see Simon. And I see your mom way more than I see either of my parents."

"I see Aunt Cass and Hiro more than I see my dad or half-sister. Family is weird. And exhausting. I'm glad we get to rest now."

"I'm glad we're here together. I'm glad you're safe, Morgan."

"Me? You're the one who was in danger."

"And I knew you'd try to move the world for me. I was so worried you were gonna get hurt, or worse."

Morgan nodded, "But we're okay now. We're alright."

"My hair's fucking brown."

"Hey, brown's not so bad," Morgan said, running her hands through her own hair.

"Being a brunette looks good on you. And Sadie and Bennet and maybe even Simon. I just look washed up."

"I'll get you more hair dye tomorrow," Morgan promised, leaning over and kissing Seth's cheek.

"Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too. I would try to move the world for you."

"Thank you for that, too. Hopefully… Hopefully, there will be no more worlds to move for a while."

Morgan understood, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. It's good to be home."

It wasn't long before they heard about the end of Liv's empire. Er. Di's empire. It wasn't a pretty story, and Morgan cringed to think about the people who had gotten hurt in the wake of the city of monsters. Seth was still recovering, the shock of it all had worn off and now they were really going through it. They would be going through it for a while, as well as all the other people who had been abused by Di.

Morgan didn't know when things would get better but she knew that it would, slowly but surely. Whatever happened, she'd be there for Seth every step of the way. And Simon had been right, Seth did have a support system. Neither of them would have to face any of this alone.

Whew! Kind of the end of an era, huh? The story's not over yet, it won't be for some time, and technically not even this part of the story is over because there's still some aftermath and aftershocks to deal with. I'm going to have fun going forward. There's probably going to end up being in between 35 and 40 chapters? Not sure. Still, it feels good to end AoV April with a bang.

Question of The Week: What's your favorite song/character from Encanto? (I'm watching it while I edit)