Day 402:

Dear LadyBlog,

It's been, as you may have seen, 402 days since my fellow heroes and friends disappeared. I won't give up the search. I won't. If I gave up, I would never see my friends again. Let's face it: everyone else has given up at this point. Not me. Not ever. I want to see Marinette's reaction when I see her again. I want to see her cry as she hugs me, I want to see Adrien laugh as I cry, and I want to see Nino's reaction when I kiss that beautiful face of his. He'd probably push me off him though. He's always had it hard for my superhero persona. I wish I had even the slightest lead as to what happened. But nothing has come. I'm running out of jars to keep the akumas in. I need to buy some more. My mom just thinks it's some kind of project to memorialize my friends. Which is good. If she ever found out that I was Rena Rouge, she'd probably quit her job. She doesn't ask. In other news, Chloe made me fall down the stairs today. I have a huge bruise on my chin. It stings whenever I touch it. The purple and blue doesn't even compare to the broken leg from earlier this year though. And even that doesn't compare to the state my heart is in. I miss everyone, and I fear their absence is taking its toll on me.

Signing off (for now),

Alya Césaire

Alya hid her diary beneath the floorboard where it always hid. She fed Trixx some strawberries, like she always did. Everything had been the same for a year. She would go to school, fight crime, write in her diary, and cry. A lot. She'd lost all her closest friends, and had to do the job of four... all by herself. Not only that, but she had only been a hero for about two years, and was the only one left looking for the missing. "Alya," The brunette looked up at her kwami slowly, the tears already running down her tanned skin. "Ugh. Pull it together. They're still alive. I can feel it," Alya didn't move. She didn't retort, she didn't add. "Kit, look at me. No, look at my eyes," She reluctantly looked into Trixx's large lavender eyes. "You, are a mess."

"Thanks," The sarcastic reply was out of her mouth in less than two seconds.

"Seriously. You're a mess. Go look at yourself in the mirror, and fix yourself up. Go!"

"What if I don't feel like it?"

"You never feel like it! I will refuse to transform you if you do not do as I say," The little kwami smirked as her holder sulked to the mirror with a brush. Alya's once relatively long hair was cut to just past her ears, parted on the side. She had gotten quite skinny in the last year. So skinny, that many called her anorexic. She didn't mean to not eat. She just never had the time. There was always something more important. "Remember when we first met? When you would have done anything to be a hero?" Trixx asked.

"Yeah. Those were the good times. The excitement, the rush. Everyone was still here. My... best friends were... were here, and this job was easy," The tears were hot and thick, hitting the floor with an audible thud. She gripped her miraculous in a tight squeeze, wanting to keep herself from getting rid of the thing; wanting to make sure she wouldn't put the burden on anyone else's shoulders.

"Shh, kit come on. That's not... ugh, alright. Let me try again. You remember what I said? That you were very trustworthy,"

"Yeah... trustworthy. I lost everyone's trust when I let my friend's go missing," Alya sighed and wiped her tears away. Suddenly, Trixx zoomed across the room. She found Alya's makeup supply. "What are you doing? No, Trixx put that down," Alya said as the small fox held up mascara.

"Nope. The old Alya wouldn't talk like this, so I'm bringing her back," In less than a minute, Trixx went to town on the poor girl: contouring and highlighting, filling and brushing. In the end, Alya was drop dead gorgeous. She looked like her old self again, only skinnier and with shorter hair. "Kit, you look like... like... like none of this ever happened. Like the regular happy you! I... what I meant with the trustworthy thing, Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Carapace have all put their trust in you. You were trusted to be a hero, and now they have trusted you with their lives. There is no greater honor," She smiled, and realized she had to do more. She flew to the closet and brought a short orange dress to Alya's bed. It was one Marinette had made for her. The one thing Alya asked for was pockets, and Marinette had complied, despite it not being in the pattern she had made. "Put this on. We're going out."

"I don't know Trixx... maybe a different day."

"No, tonight. You're already fancied up; you might as well just put on the dress so we can go. Remember what I said earlier," Alya groaned, but went to change from her normal baggy sweatshirt into the dress. It was slightly bigger than normal, but that was to be expected.

"Mom! I'm goin' out tonight!"

"A-Alright sweetie! Just be home before 9:00! I need you to babysit Ella and Etta!" She could hear the smile on her mother's face, and the complaints of her twin sisters. She rushed down the stairs with Trixx in her bag, not knowing where she was going.