"THAT'S A lot," Hanuman remarked when they were done with explaining the case.

"That is," Aru agreed. She outstretched her arm, the golden file in hand.  "The file of my brainwashing, if you will. That could be a whole case on its own. The Syamantaka part, I mean."

Subala raised an eyebrow. "You want to take up that case? I will not allow it, of course. You both need your rest. No cases until July for you both."

"Don't worry," Aiden said. "She has no intent on that."

"I really don't," Aru agreed. "This was too much."

Urvashi nodded in agreement. "That is true. Also, in three days, you'll have your celebration ceremony."

"Three days?" Both detectives said in unison. Urvashi nodded. "On Aru's birthday. It'll be a celebration for her too."

They spoke about it for a bit before Hanuman finally said, "Any questions before we declare this case done?"

"Not a question. A suggestion, though," Aru spoke up. She felt everyone's eyes on her, especially Aiden's.

"Yes, Detective Foudre?"

Aru took a deep breath and grinned. "Let's get Detective Acharya an office."

Brynne snickered a bit, probably knowing he'd been jealous of her office. Mini smiled at Brynne's snickering and soon, everyone in the room was smiling. Aiden however muttered, "NOT funny, Shah."

"Yes, we will get him an office," Boo said.

"Then that's all, isn't it?" Aru replied. "It's done."

"It's done." The Council said in unison.

"It's done," Aiden whispered behind her. Aru felt the pressure and weight on her shoulders remove itself and take off. Take off where?

To a better future.

————

Three days later, Aru found herself in front of the mirror, looking awesome. She wore a black satin corset shirt with frilly half sleeves and a lustrous gold skirt that reached just above her knees. She wore gold hinted black, laced (bleh) heels that Nikita, the designer of the entire outfit, had forced her to to wear. There were tiny gold lighting bolts on it, though, which was a bonus point.

Krithika stood behind her. "The last time I saw you like this...my, you've grown. I just wish..."

Aru hugged her tightly. "You couldn't help it. Plus, you get to be there today!"

Krithika smiled. "Happy birthday, beta."

"Thanks mom. You know, I was gonna say 'same to you', so I haven't changed."

"You haven't," her mother agreed. "Now go."

The ceremony was grand. Aru saw Mini and Brynne first. Mini wore a dark purple shirt that had puffed up sleeves and ruffles at the chest. She wore white flannel pants with purple and black flats. Brynne was simpler. She wore a dark blue short suit with a white dress shirt under and black dress pants, paired with blue slippers.

"Happy birthday. You look great," Nikita said, appearing. She wore a sage green ball gown with dark green heels. Her hair was even more extravagant. "Since I made your outfit, of course. Sheela? Where are you?"

Sheela came into view with Hira. Sheela wore a pink one-piece dress and platformed shoes while Hira wore a long, white dress, cinched at the waist with baby blue heels. Sheela spoke first, "Hi, Aru. Great job on the case! Happy birthday!"

Hira hugged her, ignoring Nikita's protest. "You look so pretty! Congrats and happy birthday!"

"Thanks, guys. I couldn't have finished the case without you," Aru smiled at them. Then she turned to Brynne. "Look! I'm almost as tall as you."

"You're up to my nose, Shah," Brynne rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't call that revolutionary. Plus, you're cheating. Definitely not revolutionary."

She glanced at Aru's heels.

"I would. Call that revolutionary, I mean," Mini said. "Congrats, Aru. And happy birthday."

"Thanks. It's because of you I'm alive, honestly. How many times have I come to your wing on this case?"

"Too many to count," She laughed. "Aiden's waiting at the back of the stage. You have to go."

"Oooh. Birthday present, huh," Brynne said, nudging her. Ever since Aru had told them everything a few days ago, they wouldn't stop teasing her. "Have fun. But not too much fun-"

"That's my cue to leave," She decided, intervening. "Thanks guys. I'll see you later!"

On the way there, she met Drew. He wore a black suit, black pants and a white shirt. Aru grinned at him. "You look like the 1800's."

Drew grinned back. "And you look like Miss India. Or Miss America. No one cares. You look great."

They chatted for a bit, but Aru eventually left.

They waved their goodbyes and Aru met Aiden backstage. He had his back turned so he didn't notice her. He wore a black collared shirt and green dress pants. His sleeves were rolled up and he seemed tense.

"I can't believe it," Aru said, laughing softly as Aiden's head whipped toward her in surprise. She continued, "Something other than a hoodie and jeans today?"

Aiden rolled his eyes. Then he looked at her, properly this time. "You look great."

"You do too," she fired back. Aiden smiled. He said, "Happy birthday, Shah"

"Thanks. When do we go on?"

"Now."

Just then, Hanuman declared they were about to come on stage. Aiden waited at the door. "Ladies first."

"You just don't want to go first," Aru replied, but she entered the stage, him close behind her.

The crowd went wild. But Aru could spot who was the loudest. Hanuman, who'd just exited the stage, wearing a proper suit, smiled at her from backstage. The loudest Aru could hear was Urvashi, stunning in her red gown, Malini, the retired singer and Aiden's mom, in a gradient midnight blue dress, her mother, in her black shirt and dress pants, her sisters, and…Boo? Aru suspected he was the loudest one out of all of them.

Aru tapped her mic. The crowd got even louder. She spoke, "Good evening, everyone."

The crowd didn't get quieter. Aru caught a glint in Aiden's eyes. "Good evening, everyone. Can we let Shah speak?"

The screaming got louder. Aru caught bits of it in the crowd. 'He calls her Shah!' 'It should've been me' 'They're so cute together!' but most of all, 'Guys, be quiet.'

Soon, the audience got quieter and quieter until it was reduced to silence. Aru grinned. "I get that y'all are excited. We are too. Probably more than you guys. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who took time out of the day to be here and celebrate us. It's a pleasure to be here ourselves."

"What she said," Aiden smiled. "Thank you all! We would like to especially thank Miss Yamini Kapoor Mercado Lopez for keeping us from dying many times—"Mini's dark eyes widened as she adjusted her glasses. Then, a look of pride washed over her face.

"—Miss-,"Aru almost lost herself right there and laughed but she maintained a straight face, "-Brynne Tvarika Lakshmi Balamuralakrishna Rao for handing us our weapons and training us—"

Brynne scowled at her but soon, her expression was identical to Mini's as a smile of triumph entered her face.

"—Miss Sheela Jagan, for hacking the cameras of the Umbra Basi. A task not many could do, so an extra round of applause for her!" Aiden announced. Sheela beamed as the crowd applauded.

"Thank you to Miss Nikita Jagan, the other twin—" Nikita's face scrunched up at being called 'the other twin' but that was before Aru finished her sentence, "—for being the best fashionista and designing our outfits in the case. Otherwise, Aiden would've gone to the TWOS in hoodies and jeans. And here too, for that matter. Thanks, Nikki!"

Aiden was smiling but Aru was sure she was going to pay for that later. Aiden continued, "Thank you Mister Drew Reddy for helping us throughout the case and being the best secretary! We love you!"

The crowd went extra wild for that. Probably because it was Drew. Aru continued, "Here come the special mentions! Thank you to Hira for being awesome and so supportive! Keep it up! Thank you to The Council, for giving us the awesome opportunity to be here! Thank you to our family for being such a great...family?"

Aiden snickered and continued, "Thank you to Julia Lim and Kyle Chen. And also to all our witnesses and suspects that we interrogated."

"Kind of. You guys still suck." Aru admitted.

The audience laughed a bit, then Aiden said, "And finally, that's all! Thank you to everyone else. This couldn't have happened without you."

Aru opened her mouth to say something else but Aiden grabbed her wrist to stop her. He spoke, "As you may or may not know, it's Detective Foudre's birthday today!"

Aru's head turned to him so fast her neck felt broken. The crowd laughed at her surprise. He continued, "Let's sing her happy birthday, shall we?"

"Uh, that will not be needed—" but her protests weren't heard over the crowd singing happy birthday to her. Aiden grinned at her, setting his mic down on the stand so only she could hear what he said next. "Well?"

"I hate you."

"I love you, too."

Eventually, they got off the stage and Urvashi entered the stage. "Detective Foudre, my dearest detective and Detective Acharya, my nephew," Aiden's face reddened slightly, "we cannot thank you enough! You have both done so eloquently on this case. Thank you! Now, let's close this off with a dance! Rudra!"

The boy at the DJ table—Rudy, Aru recognized—gave a thumbs up and started the music. Aru whispered to Mini, "You fell in love with...a DJ."

"He's more than a DJ," Mini whispered back, defensively. The crowd got up as the music turned into a waltz. Everyone got in pairs. Rudy let it play on auto play and came to the group.

"Mini? Wanna dance?"

Mini grinned. "Let's go."

Aru watched from the corner of her eye as Hira asked Brynne to dance and they walked to the floor, hand in hand. Aru narrowed her eyes, despite a smile being on her face. She'd have to ask Brynne about that later. Maybe she could tease her, for a change. Nikita and Sheela decided to dance, too, and Drew headed over to the DJ table to mind it on Rudy's command.

Soon, Aru and Aiden were all alone. Aiden cursed, "This is why I always volunteer to be the photographer."

"I really cannot dance," Aru admitted, folding her arms. Aiden smiled, a small smile, Aru noticed, "The Great Foudre can solve an entire case that most couldn't but can't waltz?"

Aru rolled her eyes. "If you can dance, go out there and find a waltz partner. There's probably a line of girls waiting for you. I'll go sit with Drew."

She turned to leave but Aiden caught her hand. "I don't want to dance with someone else."

"Too bad I can't dance then. Join me at the DJ table."

"I'll teach you," Aiden said. His eyes held her steady. "It's not hard. My mom taught me."

"I have two left feet," Aru replied, apologetically.

"Please, Shah?"

It was the please that got her, whether she liked it or not. Aiden smiled at her, "Well, Aru Shah? May I have this dance?"

"Just this once," Aru huffed, but she was smiling. Aiden led her to the dance floor and they danced.

"This was awesome" Aiden said, referring to the case as he pulled her back in. "We are awesome. I was scared we couldn't do it"

"But we did," Aru replied, smiling. "We got to the light at the end of the tunnel in time, didn't we?"

"We did," He breathed, pushing away her hair. "We got to the light at the end of the tunnel. In time"

Admittedly, Aru wanted to high five the whole sky. She wanted to hug the universe. But most of all she wanted to thank fate. Thank fate that she had gotten the most awesome sisters, both biological and not. Thank fate she had a great family, although a bit weird. Thank fate for making Aiden and her meet and guaranteeing she'd gotten such a good work partner for this case. Thank fate for...everything.

All that was left was the big, bright future. And it wouldn't be so bad, Aru knew that for sure. With everything she'd been given, she was ready. Ready to tackle her life ahead.

This starts here, Aru thought, smiling. Aiden smiled back. It starts right here, right now.

And with her whole life ahead of her, Aru took her first step.