"Rena Rouge? Everything okay?" I ask. She quickly shuts her mouth. I catch a very faint blush on her cheeks. Is she blushing because she saw me like this?! Did I, Esme Parker, actually just get the magnificent Rena Rouge to blush?!

"U-uh, Yeah," she nods, forcing the words out. "You look awesome, uh... do you have a name yet?"

I shake my head. "I hadn't thought about that yet. I still can't believe I have a Miraculous now." I look to Ladybug and smile. "Thank you so much. And I'm sorry about before."

Ladybug smiles back, visibly relieved. "No problem. I know it must've looked bad. Thanks for the help with Tikki." "Any time," I chuckle. "Can't just leave her."

I take a seat beside Rena Rouge, surprised when she tensed slightly. "Are you okay?" I ask her. "Yeah, I'm fine!" She says, a little too quickly for me to believe her. Carapace watched us for a moment, then stood up and took Rena Rouge's hand. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," Rena Rouge agreed immediately, getting up. They headed off into one of the rooms, the furthest one from us. Wonder what they're talking about?

"That was weird," Pegasus mumbles. "Yeah..." I agree, frowning as I turn back to the rest of the group. "So... any name suggestions?"

"Birdy," Chat Noir instantly piped up, smirking. "I don't need another excuse for you to call me a bird, Chat," I roll my eyes playfully. "But cats love birds," Chat Noir teased, pouncing up onto the now empty space beside me on the sofa. I scratch lightly under his chin, hearing him purr, then push him off the sofa, all of us laughing at the betrayed look on his face.

"Go fawn after LB, you big dolt!" I chuckle, then pause, the word fawn giving me an idea. "Wait a second... guys, what's the name for a baby swan?"

"A cygnet," Ryuko answers immediately. "That's it," I smile. "Cygnet. I'll be Cygnet." "It's a good name," Viperion smiles. "Thanks!" I reply, glad he likes it.

The sound of a door unlocking catches my attention. I turn to see Carapace and Rena Rouge leaving the room. Carapace is smiling sadly while Rena Rouge seems guilty. He whispers something to her that makes her smile slightly and hug him, replying too quietly for me to hear. Carapace hugs her back. They stay like that longer than necessary before pulling apart. Carapace returns to us while Rena Rouge heads out to the balcony, seeming to need a minute.

"Is... Everything okay?" I ask Carapace, concerned for them both. "What just happened?"

"We're both trying to work out some stuff, her especially," Carapace sighs. "We both agreed that the best way to do that was... was to take a break. But we're still friends, no matter what happens. It's just... hard at first, y'know?"

Everyone begins comforting Carapace, so I go out to do the same for Rena Rouge. She'll need it, too. I head out to the balcony, seeing her curled up and on the verge of tears.

What concerns me more, however, is the purple and black butterfly headed towards her.

"Rena Rouge, look out!" I yell, grabbing my sword and leaping between her and the akuma. I don't hesitate to slice at it wildly, not caring that it's an innocent creature that's just gotten akumatised. If it tries to harm Rena Rouge, or any superhero, for that matter, it's getting no mercy.

Especially not in my freaking house of all places.

I manage to slice the akuma several times over, leaving them useless for Hawkmoth's cause. I watch it drop lamely, then get blown away by the wind, hopefully never to be seen again.

I turn back to Rena Rouge, who's looking up at me in shock. "Are you okay?" I ask her gently. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." she nods. "Thank you..."

"No problem." I sit down beside her. "But... I didn't just mean the akuma. Carapace told us what happened. Are you okay?"

She goes to say yes, but then struggles for a moment as the negative emotions return. She slowly breaks down again, giving me my answer. I gently hug her and she immediately clings to me, startling me. I squeeze a bit tighter in response. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here for you. We all are."

I slowly manage to calm her down by keeping her close and whispering soothing words to her. Once she finally relaxes, I slowly pull away. She does the same, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that..."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," I assure her. "I'm always here to help in whatever ways you need, Rena Rouge... if I'm honest, I'd go as far as to say you're my best friend if we actually were friends," I chuckle.

"What? You don't think we're friends?" She seems a little upset by this. "Well... no, not really," I admit. "Don't you guys just come here because it's an easy place to sort yourselves out?"

"Well, yeah, but also because of you," Rena Rouge insists. "Why do you think we gave you the Swan Miraculous?" "Because the guardian wanted you to," I answer without hesitation. That has to be it, right? I can't get my hopes up and think that the heroes would all actually tolerate me if they weren't getting anything out of it. I mean, they're literal superheroes! They could have an army of friends if they wanted!

Rena Rouge sets a hand on my shoulder. "Esme, Ladybug is the one who does most of the talking with Master Fu. Do you wanna know what she said happened? She kept mentioning how Chloé would come at you as Queen Bee whenever she was transformed, so he asked about you. Ladybug told him about all the help you give us and the support you show us. He then asked all of us about it. We all told him how amazing and kind you are, how you always help out even without realising it.

He wanted us to test you to see if you'd be capable of using the Miraculous, not because he thought you weren't fit for one. And when you took Ryuko and Viperion's Miraculous? Ladybug said he knew right away that you were more than ready and deserving of a Miraculous.

This has never been about using you and it's never been about just putting up with you or anything so we can take advantage of your kindness. Ask any one of us and I guarantee we'll all agree that you're our friend and we care about you just as much as we do anyone else."