It wasn't until Kayo completed her mission that she broke down. She didn't even manage to get to her bedroom she just collapsed on the sofa and cried.

There were shuffles of movement and flashes from the holo-table but she didn't notice any of that. She didn't even know why she was crying she didn't care, she'd held her emotions bottled inside for so long they just couldn't be contained anymore.

"Kayo?" She buried her face in a sofa cushion, her body heaving with sobs. Someone slipped their hands under her arms and hauled her into a more upright position. She clung onto them, burying her face in their shoulder and inhaled the smell of coconut shampoo. Circles were rubbed into her back and gentle words she couldn't understand murmured against her hair.

"Kayo, look at me."

She sniffled, her tears having run dry a while ago and lifted her head. A headache was starting to thud behind her eyes. Alan gave her a small smile.

"Do you want to go up to the roof?"

She nodded, a fresh wave of tears threatening. Alan helped her up and to her absolute horror she saw that they weren't alone. Grandma, Scott, Virgil, and Gordon were all on the balcony. Even in her state she could tell Scott was in a Smother Hen overload and the others were having to physically restrain him from rushing over.

"Ignore them." Alan murmured, his arm round her waist.

They didn't speak until they got up to the roof.

"Did you walk in on me?" Kayo asked.

Alan shook his head, looking at the stars on the horizon rather than her. "I got back before you. Grandma asked me to comfort you, then John called ten seconds later to say the same thing."

"Everyone knows?"

"Brains doesn't."

Kayo sagged. It didn't make her feel any better.

"Do you…y'know…wanna talk?"

Kayo sniffed and dug in her pocket for a tissue. "It's really beautiful this time of night."

"Yeah, it is," Alan tipped his head back and squinted at the sky. "That one's Five."

She looked up to where he was pointing. "You can't know that."

"I do."

"Yeah right."

"It's bright and it's directly above us, therefore it's probably Five."

She considered what he had said before and decided she needed more information. "John called you?"

"Yeah, he said he tried talking to you, but you didn't respond. He thought you'd need someone who's physical."

He was right there. She bit her lip to stop it from trembling.

"Are you crying because I was nice to you?"

God, it was so stupid. She nodded and wrapped her arms around him. He was warm and cuddly.

"Hey, it's okay."

"I shouldn't be this emotional." She managed between sobs.

"Everyone gets emotional sometimes, there's nothing wrong with it. And don't start telling me you're weak either."

"I…I think it's relief."

He didn't say anything, a tactic to get her to elaborate. She'd taught him that one. It worked.

"I've been keeping that secret for years and years and it's been killing me. I've built up telling you in my head so much, I genuinely thought Scott was going to throw me off the island or just kill me, but you didn't and you all understood…"

"You can't choose who you're related to but you can choose your family."

"You're pretty wise for your age, you know."

"I learnt from the best."

They stared at the stars for a little longer, their arms wrapped around each other.

"Do you want hot chocolate?"

"Yeah."

They made their way back down to the kitchen but never got that far.

"Kayo are you okay?" and there was Scott mid-pace.

"I'm fine."

She wasn't stupid and he wasn't fooled, he didn't believe her for a second, but he didn't press her.

"We're here."

Scott hugged her, then Virgil and Gordon were there too and Alan squished between them.

"No one's going to hurt our sister." Gordon said.

She could really believe it. "You're the best brothers ever. You know that right?"

"Some are better than others."

"Way to ruin the moment Gordon."

"I just needed to make it clear that there is a hierarchy."

"There is not a hierarchy."

"Shut up, you're ruining the hug."

Scott and Gordon fell silent and Kayo let herself relax. No more secrets.

No big ones anyway.

Hi everyone. I'd just like to say thank you for reading (and a MASSIVE thank you to anyone who left a comment or binge-read the entire series in one go) and I hope you've enjoyed Coda so far. I'm officially 1/3 of the way through this mammoth project and I'll update as soon as I can.