Leïla closed her eyes, concentrating on her breathing. She could feel the tension in her chest and shoulders; she needed to resist the urge to stretch her arms to try to relieve the tightness across her shoulders. So much stress – far more than she had ever experienced before this year. This was the best – and worst – part of her training: she needed to think about the stress in order to release it. She wasn't a stranger to stress; she'd been dealing with it for years, and especially while her father had been out of work and she had been in her old school. But now, it wasn't just from school, or from family. It wasn't because she was afraid to walk home alone at night; sometimes, she almost missed the days when that was her biggest stressor. But no. There was so much more for her to worry about now: she still had her little brothers to watch most days, and she was worried about her mother's pregnancy. She still helped her father at the clinic – filing paperwork and checking in patients, mostly. But now she also had her responsibilities to the Heroes of Paris. And in a few weeks, when school started up again, she would have to balance all of those responsibilities together. Her father had already told her that if she needed to spend more time on schoolwork, then she could do less at the clinic. But school wasn't really the problem…

Breathe in. Breathe out. She was so tired.

There was a chill in the air – the cavern was always cooler than the city outside, and she hadn't brought a sweater. In the silence, she could hear the barely-audible fluttering of butterfly wings, lulling her into a stupor. A high-pitched, tittering giggle echoed from somewhere far away. She wasn't alone, but the only other sound in the entire cavern was the the soft breathing of those around her. Her eyes felt heavier and heavier. She had been up half the night – before patrolling, she had sparred with Bengalia for almost an hour, practicing fighting someone she couldn't see. Bengalia had gotten a few good hits in; Leïla had woken up with bruises on her arms and stomach. After sparring, they had patrolled the streets for another several hours, jogging up and down the river on the alert for any sign that the Lynchpin might still be smuggling along the Seine. They had spotted a couple of suspicious boats and watched them until they docked, but without any luck. Unfortunately, Leïla had only gotten home and crawled into bed an hour before the sun rose. Even with the sun streaming through her still-open window, she'd managed to sleep in an hour before the twins had woken her up.

At least Mme Semoun had offered to watch the twins for the day, leaving Leïla free to continue her training with Guardian Emilie.

To either side of Leïla, the three of them sitting in a row on bamboo mats in the Heroes of Paris Headquarters' grotto, were Alain and Ruth, with Emilie kneeling opposite them on her own mat, breathing slowly and steadily. Leïla opened her eyes the slightest bit to peek at the others, only for Emilie to look directly at her and raise an eyebrow in amusement. Leïla felt heat in her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut once more. Out in the main area, she could hear a faint peal of laughter from the two Kwamis – Kheaa and Duusu, chasing several butterflies around in the garden, just outside the grotto entrance.

What was the point of this meditation again?

"Now, breathe out slowly," Emilie instructed them, as Leïla tried to obey, inhaling, holding her breath, and releasing it. Emilie's calm voice continued, "Empty your thoughts and emotions. Focus on your keeping your breathing steady and even. Picture yourself as a rock, solid and unmoving, in the middle of a swift-flowing stream. Let everything happening around you wash over you and flow away. Your emotions are a tool, but they can also be a danger to you, if you let them control you. You must master yourself." After a long moment, Emilie smiled and told them, "Good. These exercises for focusing and controlling your emotions are especially important for a Guardian, but they are also valuable for miraculous holders, as well. Your abilities are affected by your emotions. You may notice that some of your emotions will make your abilities stronger, while others weaken them."

Leïla nodded slowly to herself. The first time she had fought Sandy – the first time she had ever fought a super-villain, she had been absolutely terrified. And when she had confronted Mind-Wipe, the way he had looked at her… She shuddered at the memory, swallowing back bile. The look in his eye, the leer, the flash of malice. Had it not been for Pegasus and the others, she might not have been able to face him. But she had. She had confronted him and stopped him, because her Horn-Fade had suppressed his abilities.

And if she controlled her emotions, it could be even stronger?

"Sometimes your emotions will be a help to you," Emilie told them gently. "But sometimes, they can be a hindrance. The challenge is to understand which is which. Now, concentrate on your emotions, on releasing your emotions and centering yourself with calm."

Leïla straightened her back, shifting her posture as she focused on her emotions. She was worried for her mother and new sibling – everything seemed to be going well, but it was still only halfway. She was nervous about school starting – it was going to be her third school in less than a year, meaning new friends and new teachers. At the same time, she was also excited about it – if she was going to become a doctor, like her father, it would happen by attending a science and technology lycée and getting good grades. But if she didn't get good grades there–

"Release your emotions," Emilie interjected, breaking the silence.

Leïla felt heat in her cheeks; nevertheless, she forced herself to breathe slowly, letting go of the anxiety. Finally, she felt calm and peace. She could feel her muscles relaxing as her eyelids grew heavier.

After several minutes, finally Leïla stirred herself, opened her eyes, and glanced around at the other two. Ruth sat cross-legged, barely moving, her breathing slow and even, her posture perfect. Alain likewise continued to sit calmly, though he had opened his eyes and was also looking around the grotto. He caught Leïla's gaze and grinned, quirking an eyebrow at her. Giving him an amused smile, Leïla glanced back at Emilie, her brows furrowed.

Emilie sighed. "You want to know why this is so important?" she asked Leïla knowingly.

Leïla nodded. "I understand – I do," she began. "I appreciate the opportunity to sit and meditate and 'release my emotions'; this is the most peace and quiet I've had since the twins started to walk! But, I don't know." She frowned. "I was expecting training to involve working with my miraculous and practicing using my harpoon, not just sitting and going through meditation exercises."

Emilie hummed. "This was the first – and one of the only – training exercises my mother taught me when I first received my miraculous," she admitted. "But admittedly, this may be more valuable with my miraculous than yours – the Miraculous of Emotion interacts far more with emotions than any other. According to Marinette, her training with Master Fu involved more reading and less meditation than my training did. However, I do think it is valuable for you to learn and practice meditation. There is far more to being a miraculous user – or a Guardian – than simply understanding your own miraculous. That was a lesson that I did not learn soon enough."

Opening her eyes, Ruth cocked her head to one side curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Before all of, well, this," Emilie began, "all I knew about was my own miraculous. I knew that the rest of the Asian set had existed, but I believed them to have been destroyed or lost in the destruction of the temple. So when I had the opportunity to return to Tibet and visit the temple, I was unprepared for what would happen there. That was my biggest mistake. And my biggest failure."

"You mean the Maw?" asked Alain, leaning forward. "But you couldn't know; how could you have prepared for the unknown?"

Leïla swallowed, looking down at the grass in front of her.

"I couldn't know what I was going to find," Emilie acknowledged with a rueful smile. "But I should have realized there would be something. But I was so excited to visit the temple, I didn't even consider the possible dangers. So, I simply wasn't ready to face something like the Maw. Of course," she mused, shaking her head, "the Maw is a danger unlike any we have even dreamed of. Any single miraculous user would likely struggle to face a threat like that. No; I don't expect any of you to do something like that. But all the same, I wasn't ready. After my son's birth, I put far less effort into my Guardian responsibilities, distracted as I was by my family. If I had been more attentive, if I had continued my training, if I had been in better control of my emotions when I saw the Maw, I may have been able to face it and escape, rather than allow it to damage my miraculous and put me into a magically-induced coma. And if that had not happened…" She shrugged. "Who knows how things would have been changed?"

Leïla nodded slowly, considering Emilie's words. "And you're saying that the key to that is meditation?"

Emilie smiled. "The key is understanding and mastering your emotions."