Johanna had been quiet for the ride back to Desmond's home. While she would give a small response when every now and then Desmond would ask her a question or make some small conversation. Elaine wondered if maybe it was because she was present. Johanna only had just met her a very short time ago, so it would take time for the young girl to warm up to her. Arriving home though, the young girl looked at the house with an impressed expression towards the Victorian style home.

"It looks really nice," Johanna commented quietly.

"I know. I thought this would be the perfect place after…" Desmond trailed off and then coughed to clear his throat. "But I'm sure you'll like the inside just as much. I still have your belongings. I wasn't sure which room you would like, so I left them in the attic until you could pick one." Johanna's face brightened up and she even looked a little excited when they got out of the cart.

While Johanna didn't mind being put down on the ground to walk, she still clung onto Desmond's jacket with one hand when they made their way inside. Stepping into the hall, Johanna looked around until her eyes landed on the piano in the parlour room.

"You still have the piano!" Johanna smiled.

"Of course. How else am I supposed to get you to sleep if not with a lullaby?" Desmond questioned in a slightly teasing tone.

"My favourite bedtime story?" Johanna asked. She then looked up at Desmond with a hopeful smile. "Could I have that tonight? I missed you reading it to me."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. I missed hearing how Jacques Descole saved the town and his love!" Elaine blinked once or twice. Jacques Descole? She looked to Desmond who purposely avoided her look.

"And I missed telling it to you, sweetheart," Desmond said as he patted her head. "Would you like me to give you a tour or would you want to look around on your own for a bit?" Johanna thought it over. Looking down and occasionally looking back up to Desmond and even Elaine once or twice. She looked to the front doors.

"No one else will come inside?"

"Only Raymond when he's put the horses away, and then they'll be locked," Desmond assured. Johanna lightly bit her lip before saying,

"I… I'll go with the tour."

"Alright then. Do you mind if Elaine comes along?" Elaine figured this was supposed to be some way for Johanna to get use to her.

"I… don't mind," Johanna answered quietly.

During the little tour, Johanna looked around with interest and paid attention to Desmond when he did set some rules (such as not going into the adults' rooms when they weren't there and without permission, including his study). Walking around, she did seem to become a little more at ease and relaxed. Though it was clearly obvious that was mostly because she stood closer to her father then Elaine. There was only one brief stop outside Desmond' room where he claimed he had to get something, and when he came back out he hid it behind his back.

"So what do you think of the house?" Desmond asked Johanna when they came back to the parlour.

"I really like it. It's really nice looking," Johanna replied with a small nod.

"Really now? As much you like this?" Desmond finally took out what he was hiding behind his back. Elaine recognised it as the creamy white bear he had been holding that night he was drunk, sometime before Monte d'Or. Its name was… Sha Sha if Elaine remembered rightly.

"Sha Sha!" Johanna almost squealed in delight as she held her arms out for her teddy bear. Desmond chuckled and handed it over. Johanna held it tightly to her chest and nuzzled the top of its head. "Thank you, papa."

"No need to thank me, sweetheart," Desmond assured her. "Now do you have any questions now? Raymond did say he would make you brioche when we got back so he's probably working on it now." Johanna bit her lip and briefly glanced to Elaine before asking in a very low, almost unheard voice,

"How come Elaine is here?" Elaine looked to Desmond. He had to explain it since Johanna would likely only take his word for it. Maybe Raymond's too, but Desmond was the only one who could really confirm anything for Johanna. Desmond picked Johanna up and sat in an armchair, while Elaine took the other.

"Well, Johanna," Desmond looked to be carefully thinking as he spoke. "Elaine… first came here to help me with work." He shot Elaine a look when she briefly scowled, but Elaine didn't bother to attempt correcting. "And we… You know I loved your mother, yes? Well… Sometimes when people lose their spouse, they can be lucky enough to find someone they care for almost as much as their spouse. Sometimes even grow to love them. Do you understand?" Johanna looked thoughtful before giving Elaine a wary look.

"So, she's replacing mum?" Elaine inwardly cringed at that. It was certainly not how she wanted to be seen as. Not so much as simply being a replacement, but being so in a negative light. Well, there wasn't really a positive light either but hopefully the point could get across.

"No, no, that's not it," Desmond quickly said. "She's not replacing your mother, she's just… She just happens to make me as happy as your mother did. We… do sometimes have arguments, but it's a minor thing compared to everything else. Usually." Elaine heard Desmond mutter the last bit just enough for Johanna not to hear. Johanna's wary look lessened. "Also, we would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

"Why?"

"Your papa's shy about it," Elaine said, holding a hand to her mouth to hide a smirk.

"Er… Yes, that's it," Desmond agreed reluctantly. Johanna looked at Elaine for a few moments before getting off of Desmond's lap much to his surprise, and walked over to Elaine.

Elaine looked at her, waiting to see what the little girl would do or say. Johanna still seemed to be considering something, Sha Sha still held in one arm before she did something Elaine had not expected.

She hugged her.

Elaine was a bit startled by this, so did Desmond. Her eyes still on Johanna, Elaine had no reason to doubt her mind had somehow tricked her.

"Thank you for making papa happy," Johanna murmured. Elaine began to relax, realising that Johanna would at the very least tolerate her being with her father. She smiled and slowly returned the hug. Giving Johanna an opportunity to move away if she didn't want it. But she stayed put and accepted the hug, even if she did stiffen briefly.

"No need to thank me," Elaine replied gently. "'E's capable of making me 'appy so why not return the favour?" Elaine looked to Johanna's hair and smiled. "You 'ave very pretty 'air. It suits you nicely. Do you think perhaps I could brush it sometime?"

"I guess so. If you want."

"Then perhaps I could give it a 'undred strokes to make it extra soft and shiny." Elaine then began to grin. "And when you're older, you can come to me for love advice. No doubt your papa will try to scare away any boy who comes near you. I'll be the fun adult basically, and your papa will be the serious, grumpy one," Elaine went on, Johanna faintly giggling in response.

This moment was enjoyable. It felt a bit like when she was a little cute girl, wrapping her father and brother around her little finger. Whether Desmond was feeling anything similar was a worthwhile question, but Elaine didn't look to him to check. After a few minutes, Raymond came in.

"I made brioche as you requested, Master." Johanna instantly looked up, ears perked at the word 'brioche'. Elaine just wanted to cuddle her now for her cuteness! Cuddle her for an entire year straight!

"Why don't you go and have some then, Johanna. Just don't eat too much or you'll spoil your appetite for dinner," Desmond said. Johanna nodded and followed Raymond to the kitchen.

"She's so sweet," Elaine sighed in delight. "Could we keep 'er like this forever?"

"I'd like to, but it's impossible sadly," Desmond replied. "You certainly aren't helping by saying you'll give her tips on romance in later years."

"Who better to give advice then someone from the country of love originally?" Elaine asked as she gave a shrug. "But still, you must be so 'appy that things seem to be working out well for you at the moment, oui?"

"Yes, it's… It's working out quite well," Desmond admitted, a small frown coming to his face. "Almost… Almost too well."

"Desmond?"

"I have my daughter, and you. We have Aurora to lead us to the Azran Legacy. Things are just… working well. How long until the ropes unravel?"

"You're just worrying and being protective," Elaine said. "If we somehow run into Targent during the trip, we'll be able to move around them." Desmond wasn't paying attention to her however. He rested his face in his palms as he muttered to himself.

"It's always happened. Whenever I have people I actually care for, they're either taken or die. I could have lost you in Monte d'Or if you hadn't tried your rescue attempt for me at the Vault. There's always Raymond, yes. But that doesn't change the facts."

"You shouldn't worry yourself-."

"Easy enough for you to say!" Desmond hissed, taking Elaine by surprise. She had grown accustomed to Desmond's personality fairly easily. It felt so natural for her to be so. But this momentary resurface (at least Elaine hoped that was the case) of the Descole she had known in the beginning… It had her concerned as to how far away that darker side of the masked villain could stay. Desmond, realising his slight relapse, cleared his throat.

"I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Elaine didn't respond. "… Maybe you're right, but I'm just so use to things being taken away from me. I suppose it's hard to believe that everything will truly stay the way it is. Especially with Targent at large."

"You 'ave your daughter back," Elaine said in a calm and neutral tone. "That 'as to be a sign of… something."

"I doubt it's a sign," Desmond muttered. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure if it's a wise choice to bring her with us on our travel."

"But wouldn't it be safer 'aving 'er close where you can see 'er then away where you can't?"

"I know, that's why it feels difficult," Desmond groaned, rubbing his face in frustration. "And not just because of her safety. After about four years apart, I don't want to just leave her behind for who knows how long."

"The rest of us will be there," Elaine pointed out. "As long as she doesn't wander off, there shouldn't be trouble."

"True," Desmond admitted in a reluctant tone. "Plus she probably wouldn't appreciate me just leaving her at home when we've been apart for so long."

"And she could always stay in the Bostonius if we were going somewhere dangerous."

"Again, true." Desmond leaned back. "From the sounds of it, she may be going after all. She'll be safe. I'll make sure of it," Desmond affirmed seriously.

"… You are a good father. From what I've seen so far at least."

"Thank you, though I don't believe I can truly accept the credit. Raymond has been helpful himself."

"Perhaps, but still." Elaine crossed one leg over the other. "So… Care to explain who exactly, 'Jaques Descole' is?" Desmond began to look a little embarrassed and avoided Elaine's look.

"You see, er… While Lucy was pregnant with Johanna, she bought this sort of fairy tale book of a swordsman who defends his home town, such as saving people from monsters by hunting them down, rescuing the children from being sacrificed to a dragon by commandeering the carriage while simultaneously fighting the dragon, and rescuing his one love from a vengeful sorceress who wants to steal her life force and beauty. Johanna was always fond of the story."

"I can see where 'Jean Descole' came from then," Elaine said with a twitch of a smile. The origin of Desmond's alter ego was actually sweeter then she would have imagined it to be. "I'm guessing you wanted to emulate 'im because of your daughter?"

"I wouldn't necessarily put it like that," Desmond waved it off dismissively. "At most, I only really used and altered the name. I think it's safe to say that Jacques and Jean would not get along. Ever."

"But you probably wanted to see yourself as some sort of 'ero in a sense. At least against Targent."

"Anyone could be a hero against them," Desmond scoffed as he stood up. "Even if I'm against them and have my daughter's love, I'm still a villain to the rest of the world."

OMAKE THEATRE: Where Layton characters are chibi-fied!

Aurora stared at the treats in front of her with interest. After she got her new clothes (in, Kens-zing-ton. Wasn't it?), she noticed a shop selling different coloured treats. Emmy, Elaine, Johanna and Luke, seeing her interest, decided to buy some for her. As a sort of very, very late birthday present. Late by a million years. Professor's Laytona and Sycamore had some doubts about this idea, and even Elaine had some hesitance. But since there was no real reason to not buy any, and it was a case of four against two, there was no way to prevent it.

"So, these snacks are called… 'sweets'?" Aurora asked as she held up a slab of something in a light brown, simple yet alluring confection. She believed she heard someone call it, 'chalk-co-lat'.

"Indeed. I suppose you could think of them a bit like deserts, but not as filling and treated more like treats. Children really like them," Elaine tried to explain with a smile. "Of course adults can 'ave them as well."

"That old bint in Misthallery wouldn't let that happen," Emmy muttered bitterly,

"Emmy!"

"What's a bint?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't taint my daughter's mind!" Desmond exclaimed after she and Luke asked about Emmy's swear, and wrapped his arms around Johanna's ears. Aurora looked at the chalk-co-lat in her hand. She saw one or two women eating this and looking to enjoy it. So perhaps she could enjoy it as well.

She broke off and piece and plopped it into her mouth and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was much better then she expected. It may not have been as colourful as the rest of these sweets, but it was still good. Next thing she knew, she was having another bite. And another. And another. Then she moved onto the other sweets. What were they? 'Skit-tals?' 'Smar-tees?' 'Iced car-a-mels?' 'Le-mon drops?' Odd names, but delicious none the less.

Very delicious.

"Nice to see you're enjoying them," Elaine commented, though she had a slightly concerned look from the amount Aurora was shoving into her mouth. It was almost as bad as Luke and Emmy at a dinner table, and they were like a black hole combined in that case. "I'll just 'ave a little choc-."

Elaine had reached out for some chocolate, only for her wrist to be grabbed sharply. Aurora was looking at her with what could only be described as a deranged look. Her pupils constricted, and some of her hair loose from the bow Elaine and Emmy had picked for the Azran girl.

"Mine! All mine!"

"Err… O… Okay…" Elaine slowly brought her hand back and moved away from the girl as she began to eat all of the sweets off of the coffee table.

In less than five minutes, there was nothing but a small mountain of wrappers on the coffee table. Aurora had chocolate stains around her mouth, smiling as though on drugs and twitching wildly.

"Mooorrre…"

"We… We don't have anymore," Professor Layton explained calmly, though giving Aurora a wary look. Aurora looked sharply to Layton, now snarling in rage.

"More… More… MORE, DAMN IT!"

Then, just like that one time on the Targent ship she caused an energy blast of sorts to damage the engines, she… Well, she did it again. Only this time instead of damaging everything electronic, it forced everyone away from her, hitting them into the nearest surface. Except for Luke and Johanna who were protected by their mentor and father respectfully.

Aurora continued to snarl as she stood. She wanted sweets, and she was getting them, one way or another. She made her way towards the doors and using her awesome Azran messiah powers, she blasted the doors off its hinges and stormed out.

"My God… What have we done…" Layton breathed.

Bloom had just come back from his mandatory holiday abroad, and was spending his last few days in London, wanting to get reacquainted with his territory. He had just dropped off his photos of all the gloves he had taken photographs of (from museums to people who soon tried to beat him up as soon as he took said pictures and his favourite, kitties he put gloves on the paws of), when he spotted something very unusual.

A very pissed off teenage girl who looked to have a force field around her while she screamed for sweets and chocolate.

Just a usual girl on her time of month.

Then he remembered something. His boss was looking for an unusual girl who was supposed to be the last Azran. And what a better way to celebrate his return to work after his Johanna-Houdini induced trauma then to bring this girl in?

"Stop! If you are Azran, you must come with me!"

Did I mention that the Johanna-Houdini induced trauma caused him to forget how to be subtle and discrete and careful like he usually is for his job? Because that is what happened.

Either way, Aurora glared at him and shrieked in a very high pitch tone that actually sent him flying into the Thames. With some help of her super ancient powers of course.

During this, he began wondering if he made the right choices in life. Maybe he should have become a photographer? Or maybe a ballet dancer? Where had things gone so wrong he kept getting beaten or tormented by the opposite sex? First Elaine unleashed an unholy kicking wrath upon him and his comrade, then Johanna would keep avoiding his attempts to keep her in her chair and his office, and now this. At least he could take solace in the fact that Johanna never actually physically beat him up.

Meanwhile the rest of the group followed the mild, sweet induced carnage in the streets of London. Determined to catch Aurora before she found a sweet factory and ended the world from some sort of… Azran-sweet-apocalypse… OR something.

"What the hell do we do?!" Professor Layton exclaimed, so scared that he forgot that he was a gentleman and as such, would need to bow down before a teapot wearing a top hat (the symbol of a true gentleman) twenty times as a sign of repentance for saying hell. Because even though it's not really a swear in this author's opinion, it is for a gentleman.

"I'm don't know, but we have to think fast," Emmy said with a very pale look.

"I know what to do!" Desmond exclaimed while making a dramatic pose, and held up a… lollipop?

"How is that going to help?! Sweets got us into this!"

"And they'll get us out!" Desmond explained, winking at…

YOU READER!

Anyway, like a ninja he snuck after Aurora as she made her way towards a sweet shop, and once he reached her, he grabbed her shoulder. Aurora looked at him, glaring and ready to scream until he held out the sweet in his hand.

"Lollipop?" Aurora suddenly became nice and normal again and smiled sweetly up towards Desmond.

"Oh, thank you very much." She accepted the treat and began sucking on it. After a few sucks and licks though, her eyes widened in shock and she dropped to the ground, hissing and writhing as though she was possessed by the Devil and holy water just touched her.

"IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" Desmond began to laugh madly.

"Sugar free lollies, bi-otch!"

"Quick, grab her before anyone catches us!" Layton exclaimed as he picked up Aurora and held her by her torso under one arms while Desmond took her legs.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing to my city?!"

"Shit!" Coming towards them was Dick Hawk.

"It's Bill Hawks!"

Billy Dumb-Hawks.

"It's Bill! Bill God-Damn-Hawks!"

God-Damn-Hawks.

"Oh, for the love of…"

"Who are you talking to?" Emmy asked in confusion. No one could hear the author's voice except for Bill because she felt like tormenting the little bastard. And Aurora too. And because of your author's awesome author powers, Aurora knows every bad thing God-Damn-Hawks did.

"My name is-!"

"Silence, pathetic mortal!" Aurora, suddenly in emissary mode and glowing like a glow stick, used her powers to lift God-Damn-Hawks up in the air and have him hit every monument or famous building in London including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Westminster Abby, etcetera, etcetera…

And she had it stuck on repeat too. So God-Damn-Hawks was going to be stuck in this cycle for a few days while our heroes were on cool adventures.

And thus God-Damn-Hawks has met justice! Let us celebrate with justice desert :D