Rain slid down the windows. Adira could hear it from the edge of her bed, could see the drops running down the large panes of glass that covered one wall of her flat. Some homecoming it had been. Her apartment had turned musty in her absence, and it felt cold and sterile. It was a strange feeling; feeling more at home in a hotel than your own home.

Sighing, she flopped down onto her bed. This at least, she had missed the most. There was nothing that quite compared to the comfort and warmth of your own bed, and not even the best of hotels could remedy the safe feeling of familiar sheets. Around her lay bags needing to be unpacked. New clothes intermixed with the old, several gifts for her friends that she had left in Destiny City. Several had texted asking for time that night to meet up again, but Adira had politely declined. She needed tonight to relax, to unpack, to re-center.

After focusing so much time on training, fighting, and schoolwork, she'd had little time to brush up on her social skills. It had been hard for her, nearly exhausting (more than a fight with a Negaverser ever had been) to slip back into the fake and highly polished societal gatherings. More than a few times she had caught herself before slipping up, a few times she hadn't realized her faux pas until after it had been committed. It had been embarrassing to say the least, even more so when her father suggested that she remember to brush up on her etiquette before their next luncheon. Adira had turned into her own worst nightmare…someone who ashamed the man she idolized. The more she thought about it, the more humiliating it was.

The girl had a feeling that this trip had been a two edged sword. Adira stared up blankly at her white ceiling, mulling everything over. Going with her Father had just proved to him how far she'd slipped since being out of the social circles for a while (something he had insisted that she begin again). Coming back to Destiny after such an extended absence only meant that getting back into patrolling, schoolwork, and regular life was going to be more difficult than ever. Application time was coming up, end of term exams, not to mention getting in contact with her team again… life was daunting on either end of the spectrum and it was stressing her out.

Pulling herself up out of bed, it only took Adira a few minutes of riffling to find a comfy pair of pants and a t-shirt. Padding down the stairs, she unrolled the mat in front of the giant glass windows. Yoga always managed to realign her, even at the worst of times. She hoped it would not be different now when she needed it the most. Sighing, Adira assumed the first of her routine. Water dripped down the glass in front of her, beaded trails, some combining and some separating. Second pose. The tap of the rain along her porch and muffled through the ceiling. A deep breath. Third pose. Bright eyes closed to the hectic dance of the raindrops. Adira exhaled slowly, letting the sound of rain envelope her. Fourth Pose.

CRACK. A bolt of lightening snaked across the blackened sky, followed simultaneously by the roar of thunder. The storm was close.

The sound and flash cut through her meditation, she squeaked in her startled state and fell out of her pose, onto the mat. Rubbing her shoulder, Adira looked out angrily passed the rain drops and to the clouds themselves. Adira Perses was still out of balance, and it seemed that even the weather couldn't help her plight. Somewhat defeated, the girl went silently back up the stairs of her home to unpack.

It was going to be an interesting spring.

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