Fire was burning in a trash can in the middle of the street. Surrounding us were goth people clothed in their best, piling more paper inside the can. This paper was from inside the hotel, records of things. In front of me was Gyeong-Wan, more changed than I ever thought I'd see.

As we'd eaten spaghetti for dinner, he'd said I was like a changed person. How happy he was to see confidence coming from me. He'd remarked that usually Nikki was the one full of confidence, but now I could hold my own. He had no idea how remarkable it was coming from himself. 

He stood there with his arms open wide next to Colette and Julia. As the fire went higher, it was like something primal. How big could the fire go? How much attention was this going to bring? We'd have to find out, because a camera was pointed at the fire. It was from a different news station, and it wasn't live. They'd use it for a story tomorrow, and I couldn't wait to see it. 

"This is Mariko Suzuki reporting," the newswoman was saying. "As you can see, things have calmed here tonight. However, there appears to be a large bonfire starting." She gestured to the trash can which had an enormous tower of sparks shooting into the air above as something crackled and popped inside. The heat from it was so nice. 

"More paper!" Colette called out. "Go get some more! You, there!" She pointed and a guy wearing a long, black skirt jumped up as if catching what she was throwing his way. He dashed toward the hotel. 

I rubbed my hands together and went to them. "What are we burning?" I asked. 

"Receipts, mostly," Gyeong-Wan said impressively. He nodded toward the trash can. "It's the least we can do. There's piles of receipts in the file cabinet in the office. We don't really need them. It's more of a waste, just shows how much the hotel wastes. We have records of sales on the computer. I don't see why we need them, so we can burn the paper for warmth."

I grabbed his arm and rubbed my head on his shoulder. At this, I saw him get a bashful look. It only made me do it more. It really appeared as if this burning was more than just for warmth. 

Earlier, he'd been the one to call out that we needed pizza. I'd been absolutely surprised. Could not believe it was happening. This same, shy person I'd met only a little more than a month before. How much he'd changed. It had to have been rapid, but it felt so slow. Like we'd been caught in time, the real world not real anymore. That was my feeling, I was realizing now. Being with him, learning about him. Wanting only to see him. It had only been one month, truly. How was that possible?

The taste of spaghetti was still in my mouth. This food from the hotel, but it didn't feel like the hotel we'd known. This food had been made by someone on our side. It had been one of the most delicious meals I'd ever had in my life. Sitting there with him, surreal. We'd sat together at French Cup eating so many times. And yet, I'd never dreamed of eating in the hotel with him. Incredibly, it had happened.

I felt like I was floating. Holding onto him was the only thing keeping me on earth. And how incredible that this was now earth. 

Somewhere along the circle of people gathered, someone began to sing. It wasn't a song I knew, but it was soothing. More voices started up, building the song. It grew around the circle, going high like the fire that was piling into the sky. 

As I clung to Gyeong-Wan, I stared up as the glittering sparks went up into the star glinting sky. This fire, how afraid I'd been of it when it had been in French Cup. And yet now, somehow, these same kinds of sparks only made my heart feel as if it could now fly. Like I could go into the sky with them, so happy to see them crawling up towards the welcoming black of the night that we'd conquered.

"Are you tired?" He asked again. We were inside the hotel, having left Colette and Julia to their crowd of goths now singing around a joyous fire. It was so silkily warm in here. It was definitely making me sleepy, but I didn't want to go yet. 

It was strangely surreal, but today was Monday. A normal day of the week. Would it all be over? Would we go back to our jobs, clearing out of the hotel and back to where we came from? How could that be true? It was like we were in a different universe.

I tried to shake my head "no" at his words, but I was thinking about French Cup. 

In the kitchen, there was still the faint lingering smell of smoke. It hadn't been able to be aired out like the rest of the space. The ingredients would now be getting old, my eggs not as fresh as I like to use. The butter, with very little preservatives, would be less than ideal, too. Same thing with my milk. With these base ingredients compromised, how would I bake?

My eyes blinked in the light of the lobby. Suddenly realizing just where I was. As if waking from a dream. I gasped, and Gyeong-Wan's arms went around me, causing even more sleepy warmth.

"How am I going to bake?" I asked. "How- the milk's probably spoiling. The eggs aren't going to be great. I can't serve that! I have to do some ordering! Oh, but I don't want to throw it all out- Gyeong-Wan, what am I going to do?!"

"Throw out- what?" 

I looked up, and his eyes were wide. He was grinning so much, though. His cute dimples. He was so close to my face as I was tight in his arms. "Yes! We're going to have to throw it all out! I can't bake with those! Oh, but when will they be able to deliver it? The Nguyens' store usually delivers once per week, but this is going to mess them up! Oh no, Gyeong-Wan, how backed up am I going to be?!"

His smile just met me. Disbelief and joy on his blissful face. "You want to bake?"

I stopped for a second, considering what he'd just said. Trying to compute in my brain. I was coming back down to earth even more. "Uhhh..." 

Suddenly, he was moving my body back and forth in the tightest hug. His chin was over my shoulder. Good thing he was holding me, because it felt like I had vertigo. Realizing now why he was confused.

I hadn't wanted to bake since the explosion. That's why he was confused, and now I was, too. But, something in me was turned back on like a switch. Everyone in this lobby, milling about and being happy. People who were sort of familiar, faces I'd seen before. Realizing that they were familiar, because they'd probably been customers of French Cup even if I'd only seen them once. This whole protest had been due to a flyer that we'd sent out with Minoru, all about saving French Cup. 

How could I ever repay them? Coming out to support us, and the entire neighborhood? All of them, wanting us to reopen. Coming here to protest the hotel, which had been the source of this terrible trauma? How could I ever say thank you enough?

I hugged Gyeong-Wan even tighter than he was hugging me. Needing him, loving him. Knowing my mission now. It's what everyone had come here for. That true reason. 

"Yeah," I said, muffling into his suit jacket. The wool smelled like him, overwhelming my senses. Making a swelling feeling of love encapsulate my entire body. "I want to open tomorrow. Let's open French Cup for everybody."

He let out the most precious noise. Of happiness and relief, so much love in it. As he held me, right in the middle of the lobby of the hotel that had caused so much turmoil, I found myself crying. Not out of sadness this time, but of something more mysterious. 

I rubbed my face into his jacket, sniffling. I felt my body bouncing in it, letting out all of my emotions. Everything I'd felt since this all started a month ago. Love and joy, confusion and fear. Happiness. He held me, never letting go. Not caring who saw. So unlike the person I'd met, but so glad he could emerge. This person I knew was there the whole time, the Gyeong-Wan I'd seen and who he wouldn't show to others. This person, blooming like a butterfly. This person, who I'd so wished he could show to the world. 

Surreality was setting in as he led me into the back office. I couldn't stop looking around with wide eyes. This reality of his work. But, he didn't work here anymore. 

"This is probably the last time I'll ever be here," he was saying as I followed. He was holding my hand, and I felt like a little child following an adult in this unfamiliar space. We wound around abandoned desks and wildly strewn chairs. It was obvious the crowd had been back here, continuing the party. It was so late now, though, that they'd probably all gone to bed. The idea of them upstairs in the rooms just brought a further smile to my face. It was just like the old days, the same area of the sky taken up by them. 

"Will you be with me tomorrow?" I asked. "I can show you how to make coffee." Coffee was the only thing I felt comfortable selling. We'd buy all the milk and cream that the Nguyens had. The least we could do was give coffee to everyone. 

He squeezed my hand, so familiarly. It made my heart squeeze, too. Blush formed on my cheeks, getting warmer. "Of course I'll be with you," he chuckled cutely. "Where else would I be?"

My eyes lost their focus for a second, my heart overwhelmed. Just loving him.

Finally, we stopped. I came out of my thoughts, peering up at where we were. My head tilted a little in realization.

His fingers were swiping gently at a little gray locker among so many others along the wall. "This is my locker. I'm supposed to put all of my things, even my cellphone, in here during work hours."

"Oh?" Is this what he'd wanted to show me? I'd been enjoying this tour of his work, but it was a little odd to stop the tour here. Was it because it was secluded? We were definitely the only ones here. A small memory came back, of us on New Year's. Being in the bathroom, the most private place in French Cup, together. How close he'd been to me then, the dim light in there oddly romantic. So close together, that we'd hardly been able to move. Wiping his tie down, then gazing up at him and seeing him so close. Closing my eyes, and-

The sound of the locker swinging open with a bang made me jump. It was too like what had happened on New Year's. That loud noise. It tied a thread of fear around my heart, but so soon it was broken. There was nothing to be afraid of. 

His hand reached into the locker. "I've been keeping this here," he said, a little sheepish. There was the person I'd known. Shy, scared. Well, he'd never have to be that person again. 

"What is it?" I asked, realizing I felt a little shy myself. Blushing so much. But, I soon saw what it was. And oh, how my heart soared. Flying into the night, like the sparks in the sky. 

"Here," he chuckled, such a warm sound. 

A small, white plate slipped into my awaiting hands. This beautiful little thing. It felt so home in my hands, because I'd handed out thousands of them in my time at French Cup. 

"Oh, it's-" I began, gasping at it. My smile was so wide, automatic at seeing it, holding one again.

"-A French Cup plate," he finished for me. He began laughing, and I giggled with him.

"You finished my sentence," I giggled, playing with the plate in my sudden nervousness. Or was it nervousness? What was this feeling? I was too content to be nervous. 

"I did," he laughed with me. He took my arm, so pleased with himself. That confidence coming out again, so sexy to me. I breathed a long breath, feeling the lovely weight of his arm linked with mine. "Let's go back. We can go to my room. You can sleep there. We'll go to French Cup in the morning. I bet Nikki will want to go with us. I'll find out what room he's in and then we'll wake him when- Oh wait."

"Huh?" We'd stopped in the middle of the chaotic floor. It was so messy in here. It only made me even happier, adding to this feeling.

He just erupted into laughter, his shoulders shaking. If I thought I was happy before, the feeling had just asked for me to hold its beer. I couldn't stop smiling if I tried as he lost it, laughing so hard. 

"What?" I asked. I poked him, and he curled over like it had been a button to make him laugh even worse. "What is it?" I asked again, trying to be cute to make him continue even more.

"I ca- can't," he wheezed out, so adorable. Those lovely dimples were the deepest I'd ever seen. He held his belly. "I can't check to see what room Nikki's in! We didn't take down anyone's information! The hotel! The hotel-!" He was laughing so hard. "The hotel has no record of who's here! The entire system is in chaos! This is a victory!"

I just giggled with him. My arms went around his shaking body, adoring him. He wrapped his own around me once more. The plate in my hand met his back, this lovely French Cup plate that he'd kept. I started to sway with him, and soon he'd calmed down. 

This was my victory right here. How hard he'd fought. How much I'd wanted this, and I didn't even know it was possible. My Gyeong-Wan, laughing so hard at the falling of this hotel. Able to laugh in their faces, causing chaos. My Gyeong-Wan, finally free.