"That take was the best one yet! Let me go back and see which spots we need to try again. But I think we might be done with this song, dudes!"

Rose glanced behind her at Juleka and grinned brightly, replacing her microphone on the stand in front of her. It was just a prop – the real microphone for the recording session was the unidirectional one clipped to her collar that was tuned to only pick up her voice – but she had become so accustomed to holding a microphone while singing that she had ruined no less than fifteen takes while they were recording their first album. In the end, Nino had groaned, handed her an old microphone, and signaled them to try it again. Take sixteen had turned out perfect, and they hadn't looked back since. Taking off her headset, Rose twisted her head in either direction, rolling her shoulders, and rubbed her hands against her ears, suppressing a wince at the damp feeling of sweat from her headset.

Playing and recording music really was what she wanted from her life, wasn't it?

They had been working on this particular song for the last 45 minutes, almost without a break… and every time they had thought they had a good take, Nino had shaken his head and announced that he could hear a plane flying in the distance, or that the drums had been off by half a beat on measure fifteen, or that a bird had chirped a little too loudly for the plexiglass recording barrier to muffle. Rose had groaned the first time he told them that: what were the large plexiglass panels there for, if not to keep out the ambient noise? Otherwise, why shouldn't they get rid of the plexiglass, if all it was doing was to reflect the sun's heat? Nevertheless, Rose had smiled and borne it. The first couple times, Rose had sighed and taken another sip of her water to prepare for the next take. After fifteen minutes, she had bit back a scathing remark. By thirty minutes, she had been ready to throw Nino and his recording equipment overboard! Of course, it could have been so much worse: their normal recording studio had been trampled by the Tarasque, and while Miraculous Ladybug had repaired the building, the owner had converted it to housing, kicking out all the business tenants. Consequently, they had been forced to record the album on the Liberty, and if they had stayed within Paris' city limits, they would have had to contend with the ambient city noise, along with the three construction sites directly across the river from the Liberty's berth. Rose sighed. By comparison, the occasional frog's croak or airplane engine was hardly any distraction.

But still: while Rose was excited to see what the city would look like once all of the reconstruction was finished, she missed the days when she and Juleka could lie out on the Liberty's deck and actually hear themselves think! But instead they had had to motor upriver from the city and drop anchor in a small inlet away from the main river traffic, where they could record in relative peace.

Standing a little behind Rose and next to Juleka, Luka wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced down at his watch. "Why don't we take about fifteen minutes while he's doing that?" he suggested to the others, setting his guitar carefully on its stand. "I need a drink…"

Rose rolled her eyes, stifling a giggle. "Say 'hi' to your 'drink' for me," she called after him as he pushed apart the plexiglass screen panels and disappeared down the stairs below deck.

"Pity Kagami couldn't be here for this," Adrien mused, pausing next to Rose and stretching his shoulders, twisting at his waist and flexing his fingers. "I know how much she enjoys listening to us play."

"Marinette does, too," Rose pointed out. "I'd hoped she would come. The last time we saw her was the 'bachelorette' party… three days ago. And with our recording schedule the way it is, Jules and I might not get to see her again until we're finished!"

"You don't have to tell me about it. Somehow, I've seen less of my wife this weekend than any time since Father's arrest!" Adrien hummed. "But unfortunately, the tides of fashion wait for no man… or something like that." He chuckled, shaking his head affectionately. "Six weeks in Angola may have given her plenty of ideas, but it didn't exactly help her to get the Fall line together by the deadline; she's in a meeting most of the day trying to get that taken care of. Hopefully they will be finished soon enough for her and Alix to at least meet us at the dock when we return to the city. And if we're still recording next weekend, she'll come to listen then."

"That's nice – though I hope we'll be finished long before then!" Rose looked down at the deck. "Unfortunately, Kagami can't exactly do the same – last I talked to her, she had a lot of work to do in Tokyo before she could even think about coming home."

Adrien snorted humorlessly and started in the direction of the Gorilla, who had spent most of the day leaning against the gunwale at the bow of the boat and staring off in the direction of Paris. "Well, tell her she needs to wrap it up and get back here!" he called over his shoulder, as the Gorilla pulled a water bottle out of the cooler without looking and held it out toward Adrien.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You know she won't just leave things unfinished there – not if she can help it."

As Ivan collapsed onto one of the deck loungers next to Mylène amidships, Rose finally hung her headset over the microphone stand to wait until she would need it again and finished off her third water bottle of the day. Behind her, Juleka adjusted one of the settings on her bass before wiping the face with a rag and placing it on its stand and strapping it down so it couldn't fall out with the boat's gentle rocking. Finally, Rose held her hand out to Juleka, who took it and allowed her to lead the way out from behind the large plexiglass recording barriers.

"It's nice getting away from the bustle of Paris," Rose commented, squeezing Juleka's hand and guiding her in the direction of Anarka, who had carried up a large tray of water, lemonade, and iced tea.

Juleka gave Rose a small smile. "I'll say," she agreed. She shook her head ruefully. "It's been almost constant, with all the repair work going on. I know this is technically 'work'… but it's such a good change from the last couple months!"

Rose giggled, picking a glass of lemonade. "I don't think we actually got a break since after Brazil!"

Anarka smiled down at them. "With all the hard work you kids have been doing lately, mayhap this is exactly the change of pace you need. No monsters to worry about, no criminals to fight, just the five of you and your music!"

"Maybe…" Juleka mused slowly. "But I wouldn't say 'no' to a real vacation," she added, glancing over at Rose. Her cheeks turned red. "What would you think of that? Just the two of us, without a care in the world…"

"Harrumph!" Poking her head out from behind Anarka's back, Roaar scoffed, folding her arms. "Just the two of you, you say…"

Juleka smiled affectionately, rubbing the top of the Kwami's head. "I figured it was obvious that you would be coming with us," she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Excellent!" Daizzi squeaked. "When are we leaving?"

Rose blinked. "We need to finish recording first, obviously."

"So… five?"

Anarka chuckled. "After the winter, spring, and summer you've had, take all the time you want, once you can take the time away!" she told Rose and Juleka. "Just let me know when you leave and where you go."

Juleka smiled, hugging Rose tightly. "Thanks, Mom. But that definitely won't happen for a while."

Rose nodded ruefully, leaning into Juleka's side. "But we are definitely going to do it, one of these days!"

"Great job, you two!" Alya congratulated them, coming up behind them and putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "You sound amazing!"

"I'll see if Adrien and that body-gorilla of his need a drink," Anarka interjected, holding the tray out to Alya, who shook her head. "But you really do sound incredible, girls – all five of you do."

"Thanks!" Rose replied, grinning, as Anarka moved off toward the bow of the boat. She turned toward Alya and took a long sip of her lemonade "I was worried since we couldn't practice at all for two months, but it all just… came back!"

Juleka frowned, looking down at her fingers in disgust. "Speak for yourself," she grumbled, shaking her hand. "I lost all my calluses in Angola."

Rose gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm glad they came back finally – her fingers were practically bleeding after our first rehearsal," she confided to Alya.

Alya stared at Juleka, her eyes bugged out. "That sounds absolutely horrible."

Juleka shrugged. "My own fault for not pacing myself more – although Luka was just as bad."

"I'll just put that down as reason 56 why I'm never playing a string instrument." Alya shook her head, sighing. Her eyes drifted back toward the pilothouse, where Nino sat with headphones on, staring at his computer with an intense expression on his face. She smiled fondly. "Still, I do enjoy listening to it. But I hope we get this finished up soon."

Rose hummed, raising an eyebrow at Juleka. "Me too. I've been thinking about that new Thai place all day!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Juleka agreed quickly.

"Just keep your eyes out while you're there," Alya warned, her mouth set in a thin line.

Rose furrowed her brows in confusion.

Juleka frowned. "Why?"

Alya sighed heavily. "It's only been a few days, so I guess the word hasn't exactly gotten around yet." She paused for a moment, her jaw clenched in frustration. "Aurore was a plant."

Rose's jaw dropped. "What?" she gasped.

"By who?" demanded Juleka, her mouth hanging open.

"Lynchpin," Alya retorted tersely. "Who else?" She held up her hand as Rose opened her mouth to argue. "We don't know if she was doing it intentionally – she said she didn't know… but we can't be sure. She ran off before we could talk or anything, so we have no idea where she went or what she told them. But that means anyone whose identity she knows is potentially in danger."

Juleka furrowed her brows in thought. "How many is that?"

"Adrien and Marinette, of course." Alya started ticking names off on her fingers. "The two of you. Mylène. Bri. Me. Chloe and Sabrina…"

Juleka blinked.

"What are we doing about it?" asked Rose, her mouth twisting around in worry.

Alya shrugged. "Sticking together – that's part of the reason why I've been coming with you for recording, along with Gorilla. But that also applies for any time you're around town, too."

"Okay, but what about Aurore?" Rose pressed. "What are we doing for her?"

"Max is looking for her, but she's been off the grid since it happened. She ditched her phone and watch, and none of Max's drones have spotted her around the city." Alya shrugged helplessly. "We're looking, but if she's already gone to the bad guys, then there isn't much we can do."

"She wouldn't," protested Rose, eyes wide. "We know her. She helped us. She fought the Tarasque with us." Juleka nodded slowly, a calculating look in her eye.

"I mean, I don't think she would go to them willingly, but I'm not ready to take that chance," Alya answered, sighing. "And even if she doesn't go willingly, they could still capture her and force her to tell them anyways. They did that to Chloe, remember. And Aurore is stubborn, but she's not exactly Chloe Bourgeois stubborn!"

Rose looked over at Juleka, who wore a worried expression on her face. Brushing the hair away from Juleka's eyes, Rose pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Maybe we can find her," she suggested.

"We've been trying for three days, so good luck." Alya raised an eyebrow. "But if you are going to try it, just be careful."