We will recover
The worst is over, now.
All those fires we've been walking through,
And still we survive, somehow. - Recover by Natasha Bedingfield

This is honestly the best coffee in the city. Every year, and for the whole year that I came up to four times a week, the coffee has been amazing. I always come here, all the way to Mustafu, for two reasons. First, of course, good coffee. Secondly, I am nearly guaranteed that I won't run into anyone I know here. None of my old school friends have lost their quirks, and it's a half-hour from where I live with quirk disability meetings much closer to home.

When I first came, overwrought, going to anyone who offered quirk cures, I didn't care too much about coffee. I just wanted to be close to UA. Close to my old friends, though I hadn't seen them in a year, even if it was at one of these cursed meetings. Meetings that had seemed a stupid waste of time became a life-line.

It had only taken a few months for me to recognize that that part of my life was over. The friendships, counseling, and acceptance from people who either couldn't or shouldn't use their quirks changed me for the better. I became less bitter and more accepting. I learned that even though I wasn't saving people with my quirk, I could still save people. People who were going though some of the same emotions that I was. I found joy again at these meetings.

When I walked in tonight, I grabbed a paper cup of coffee, and dumped in my cream and sugar. I stirred it as I greeted people I'd known and marking the new faces for later. It was almost a year since I'd started, and I was looking forward to sharing my experience and memorializing. Maybe getting a new sponsor to help.

I sat near the back, where the newbies always sit, to be here if someone needed a shoulder to cry on. It happens, and I've made a lot of friends just by being here, being strong when they feel weakest. It hasn't always been easy. These meetings are also for those who don't or can't use a quirk because of how dangerous those quirks are. Hearing them talk about not using a quirk, their birthright, because they could easily hurt everyone they loved was difficult.

When the door squeaked open, announcing another soul that needed comfort, it wasn't much of a surprise to see them cloaked, a face deeply buried in a hood. That happened too. Some quirks ravaged not only others but the barer as well. What was a surprise was when the lanky stranger settled near me, and I recognized his scars. Or, I should say, his burns.

I wanted to scream, to whip out my phone and call the police, to run all the way to UA and beg Aizawa to capture him. The burns on the hands, peeking from under his jeans, it was the League's Dabi. I did pull my phone, but I didn't place a call. I was more curious than scared. So, I pretended I was just checking a text, and put my phone away and watched him.

"Uraraka!" Tall and fair-haired, the director of this chapter smiled at me. She'd lost control of her quirk as a child, and it had twisted the skin and musculature of her left arm and leg. She walked with a limp over to me, plopping down, "How have you been, girl?"

I smiled, "Good. We were able to get those government contracts, and those turned into even more accounts. I've been so busy, I just couldn't make it as often as I'd like to."

"Don't be a stranger, Ochaco. I miss you when you're gone, but I'm happy for your success." She flicked long honey-colored hair over her shoulder, and lowered her voice. "Did you see that man come in?"

I raised my brows, "The tall guy in the hood? Is there any way to miss him?" I laughed unsteadily, "Do you know who he is?"

She shook her head, "No. He won't speak, and when I tried to talk to him he just walked away."

"Maybe he can't." I snuck a look at Dabi. He certainly did know how to talk. I'd been in the fight against the League a few months before I'd lost my quirk. Maybe there was more to this than the nefarious schemes I'd been coming up with in my head.

The director's smooth face creased into a small frown, "We all know that can happen. I could try sign, I suppose. He just walked away. Literally. Didn't even wait for me to finish introducing myself. I was sure I'd never see him again." The frown disappeared like it'd never been there, "Do you think you could try your magic?"

Um, no? I replied in my mind. If anyone was equipped to deal with Dabi, they were up at the school or out in the city busting heads. Not me. "I can try."

Her lavender eyes, the pupil a strong spiral, brightened as she stood, "Thank you so much." She checked her watch, "It's almost time to start. Good luck."

I sat though the meeting, it rarely took more than thirty minutes, and listened to some of the others talk. Near the end, I got up and told my story.

"Hello. My name is Uraraka Ochaco." I beamed out at the crowd, "I'm happy to meet the new members, and hello to all the regulars." I nodded at a few faces in the gathering, and noted Dabi's reaction. He was sitting straighter, his hood turned firmly in my direction. "About four years ago, a villain stole my powers. I was a student at UA, in that year's famous class A."

I let my gaze linger on Dabi, and he shifted in his seat, but remained. "I must have tried every therapy ever invented to regain my powers." I held up my hands, the pink pads still there on my fingertips, though they might as well have been movie make-up. "Even three months of raw ginseng with every meal." That brought a few chuckles, it had been disgusting. "But they're gone, and I'm just a regular girl, with pink fingertips."

The room quieted, "These meetings might seem silly, but for a young woman so deeply depressed that she was considering suicide, they saved my life. Your stories, your courage, I learned so much from being here. You can too."

I gave them a small bow, and stepped away from the front to smattered clapping. The director stood, and explained that many of the regulars were available as sponsors, a friend when you needed one. I smiled, my last sponsoree was doing well in Osaka now, and I was hoping someone would need me again.

We closed by standing and reciting AA's serenity prayer, since it did seem to help a lot of us, too. "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

I moved to sit by Dabi, now focused on me. "I think you know that I know who you are."

"Do you?" It was a low croak, not the loud boastful voice I remembered. "I don't even know who I am most days."

"Why are you here?"

Bright blue eyes glowered at me from beneath the hood, "When I over extend myself..." He lifted his hands, I could tell that they were worse than before, and pushed his hood back enough to reveal a nearly ruined face. The staples were gone, now only thin strips of soft skin were showing betwixt the burned. "I burn. The League asked more and more of me. You heroes got stronger. I didn't."

I fought not to gasp, "I'm.."

"I don't want your pity." He tugged the hood close again with an irritated snort, "I knew coming was a mistake." His rasp was even worse, was he sad?

He stood, and I caught his sleeve, bringing myself to stand as well, "No!" I released him as he turned his burning gaze back to me, "No it wasn't."

"I want you as my sponsor."

Honestly wasn't expecting that. "If you're serious, if you're not out doing work for the League, then I agree."

Not Too Much Later...

I think that anyone who describes their relationships and how they started all want to say, 'It happened so innocently.' I suppose that that's the way I would have described how my relationship with Dabi started. Innocently and perversely, quite quickly.

As soon as I told him that I would be his sponsor, I persuaded him to drink a cup of marvelous coffee before leaving. Then, we left together. He very hesitantly told me why he wanted to quit the League, and I told him the whole story of how I lost my ability.

We left company at the train, but made arrangements to meet back here twice a week. We both faithfully kept that appointment. It only took a few days for our pleasant talks to turn into pleasant dinners. Then pleasant evenings walking all around the city.

The night our relationship went from innocent to decidedly sinful, I had met up with him for our meeting. He'd been distant that night, hard to read. The meeting hadn't even ended when all that nervous energy that we'd all been sensing burst, and he stormed out of the meeting, trailing his blue flames.

"Hey!" I raced after him into the night. The moon shone bright over the city, and I slowed as I neared where he was flaring. "Calm down, Dabi. What's wrong?"

"This." He held out his hand, his overcoat clanking miserably as he lifted his fingers to the sky, sending a geyser of hot blue flame at the moon. "All of this! I can't stop, I thought I could, but look at me! I'm cursed." He dropped his hand as his flames winked out leaving me momentarily blind, "Cursed."

I shook my head, "No. You are not. Don't think that way, don't even think it."

"Why?" His voice, now that I was used to the darker rasp, lowered further, "I can't lead a normal life. I can't forget. No one will let me forget."

"I don't think so, Dabi. If you want to stop, then stop." I put my hands on my hips as he turned to face me.

"I fell for Stain's shit because I hate my father. I stayed with the League because I hate my father." He looked toward me, but not at me, "I came here because I'm tired." He slumped, his voice even more hoarse than before, "Is hate a reason to do anything? I want to change, but hate has consumed me." I heard what sounded like a choked off sob, "Literally."

"Then find a new reason. I..." I caught myself; we girls, late night back at the dorms, tried to figure out Dabi since we were sure that 'Dabi' wasn't his given name. After fighting the League, seeing Dabi and his fighting style and especially now that we'd spent so much time together, the way his eyes and face are the same shape as Shoto's... Add in the fire and a terrible dad? I put the pieces together.

"He's changed, you know."

He shook his head, "I watched him get that scar." If he was surprised that I seemed to know his secrets, he didn't show it. He looked away, and I want to think he was embarrassed, though his face probably was too damaged for a blush response. "I think it was the last time I was truly happy."

I took a deep breath, "You're not who they think you are, Dabi." His robin's egg blue eyes drilled into me, "Shoto is a good person." I wanted to reach out and shake him, "All your siblings miss you, too. They could help. You can find peace." I held out my hand, "I believe in you."

"In prison? Oh, yes, maybe I could there." He sent a horrible croaking laugh into the air, "I want freedom, Ochaco. Not more bars."

He turned, his eyes shining, tears silver in the moonlight. It struck me then, how beautiful this scarred man still was. How broken and in need of restoration. I had given a little idle thought to what it would be like to touch Dabi. Would he be warm to the touch like Bakugo? What do those burns feel like? Can he kiss? Would he hold me? Those thoughts slid around my brain as he lay his fingers on my hand.

He was warm. This fingers were like his brother's, long and strong, like a musician's. He applied pressure, and we stepped closer in concert. Somewhere in the distance a bell rung, and I wondered distantly if it was an omen. Whether it was or not, I tipped my head toward him, and he slanted his lips over mine.

It wasn't supposed to happen. A sponsor and her charge shouldn't fall in love, it crossed all propriety, but my body didn't care. When he wrapped arms around me, bringing me into a scorching embrace, all thought left me. All except this: he can kiss, and he tasted like the scent of budding sakura.

The kiss turned into a frenzy at the closest love hotel. The room was gaudy, but clean and not too expensive. Hours later, we lay awake on a bed shaped like a roulette wheel, down to the bedding, striped in black, red, and green. I hadn't ever done anything like this before, and I hoped I never would again. I blushed at what my mother would think if I ever told her of what happened.

"That bad?"

"No." I turned my head, cuddling into the arm that was still hugging me close, "I was thinking that this room is insanely tacky. Would...?" I took a breath, this was too fast. But it still felt right, "Would you come home with me? I live by the bay in an apartment. Maybe you could start on that new life there. With me."

AN/ Ah, my love for crack fics is showing! LOL Don't worry, Shoto is coming! The bell ringing is supposed to be an good omen. So is the taste of a kiss. The better your partner tastes, the stronger your love. Please review! I love them, you love to write them!