There was a time that Arianna would have been apprehensive about the move in which she was going to take but after waiting about two weeks the paperwork was all completed and now she stood idling running fingers over the card that proclaimed her new identity to the world. As she stood outside near one of her shuttered hives she glanced around the gardens of the Farmer’s Daughter. Rhona owned the business and she had been helping out as much as she could but there were other things on her mind as well.

That being said she needed to get this next ‘roadblock’ out of the way. She wasn’t sure how Rhona would react to the news that she was going to spring on her but she was hoping beyond hope that it’d be taken well. There had been a time, what seemed like ages ago, that Rhona had given her, then Izobel, the chance to use her last name in an effort to fashion a new identity and she had done just that. But she had kept the meeting with Remarque a secret and she only hoped that this method that she had chosen, one of surprise, was the right track to take. Worriedly she fingered the corner of her hive and then stopped. Her bees were going to be okay, warm and toasty in their hive and she had no wish to disturb them. She only had to wait for Rhona to meet her outside… and so tucking an errant piece of hair behind an ear Arianna waited.

As she waited the weak afternoon sunlight filtered through the barely there clouds. It was just enough to keep the chill that was present in the air at bay for now.
---
Rhona had a few little things to tie up before she was able to take her lunch. A register needed a little attention, a cashier had to leave for an emergency and so Rhona covered, and the ice cream stand needed a gopher since they were short staffed. She had just dropped off the supplies that they needed when she received the text from Arianna about meeting. She shot back a text that she’d grab lunch and meet her out back.

Which was why, sandwiches from the cafe at the back of the Market in hand, Rhona finally left her position on the floor of her Market and made her way back to the beehives.

“They’ve made the transition to a new home well, haven’t they,” Rhona observed with a smile. Granted, she wasn’t sure what it would have looked like if they hadn’t done so… but none had died so she supposed that was as good a sign as any.

“I brought lunch.”

She passed Arianna her sandwich and then unwrapped her own. She’d skipped breakfast, preferring to get to the store early that morning to finish up some work she’d let go the night before. By this time in the afternoon, she was hungry enough to eat a careless passerby. It was apparent in the greedy way she took her first bite, only noticing after several happy chews that she had gotten some mayonnaise on the corner of her mouth.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this lunch date,” she asked brightly once she swallowed.
--
Arianna nodded at Rhona’s observation about her bees. They had transitioned well to their new location and for that she was grateful. If they had perished in the time that it had taken to discreetly move them to their new home Arianna wasn’t sure what she would have done. To know that for the moment her bees were safe was a balm to a weary soul, “They’ve settled yes. It’ll be a while before I’ll truly know just how well they adapted to the move. With winter coming it’s been a chore to make sure they are able to survive the upcoming cold but I’ve done the best that I can.”

As she took her sandwich from Rhona Arianna inspected it before unwrapping the package and taking a few small bites. Her gaze took in the speed in which Rhona’s sandwich was disappearing. Her stomach grumbled and deciding to listen to it’s demands she soon tucked into her own meal. It was just nice enough to sit in peace and quiet but she knew that this silence wouldn’t last. At Rhona’s inquiry as the reason behind this lunch date Arianna felt her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. She stopped chewing for one second before swallowing the morsel that had occupied her mouth. She put her sandwich down and gave a sound that could have registered as a small “eep.”

Realizing that she was merely putting off the inevitable Arianna cleared her throat and turned to face Rhona.

“So I guess you could say the reason behind this ‘lunch date’ is because I finally settled on my new identity. You know I’ve been sort of playing around with certain names but the truth was that I think I had already settled on ‘Arianna’ the moment I first sounded it out. But I’ve actually gone and chosen my last name as well. The paperwork was set in motion a few weeks ago after I asked Remarque for a meeting. Finally everything seems to have been sorted out and I wanted you to be, well, the second person to know who I am going to be known as. You would have been first - but Remarque had to get things in order for me…”

Pulling out a plastic card from her pocket Arianna turned it so she was handing it to Rhona face down. She knew this was going to be a big shock and yet there was still a nervous flutter in her stomach all the same. What if Rhona had forgotten what she had told her that one evening? Was this going to be the biggest mistake that she had made?

She hoped not. As she watched Rhona flip the card over to read the name that she had chosen, Arianna’s voice came out in a whisper, “I remember once that you said I could use your name if I wanted to - and I do. So that is who I’m going to be … Arianna - Arianna Lee.”

---
For a moment, Rhona’s heart seized. Her friend’s hesitation made her blood run cold. Was this bad news? Had her friend suddenly regretted her choice to join them? Rhona and Jett had done their best to make the transition as easy and painless as possible, but she knew there was no way to make it completely pain free. Was that pain they could not circumvent enough to breed regret? She froze as the girl beside her seemed to search for thought and words, her own mind buzzing as she went over possible reactions to whatever she was going to be told as she dropped her food numbly to the table beneath her.

Of course, if she wanted to leave, Rhona would help her. There was no reason to keep her here when she was unhappy. But there would be things to line up with that as well. Ordered contacts to organize. A safety net to pass her off to. Warnings about having to recreate herself all over again. Warnings that this would be the last time she would be able to switch sides. And then there would be the process by which she would need to purify…

The voice beside her cut through her thinking, and Rhona was suddenly very aware of how creased her face had gotten. With concerted effort, she smoothed them and focused back on what her friend was saying.

Identity… names… It took Rhona a moment to shift her thinking from the terrible events she had been fearing to something totally new.

“Arianna,” she repeated thoughtfully, taking the card automatically as the ringing in her ears finally died down. And then she laughed. It was a bright, albeit sudden sound. Slowly her mind came around and the laugh broke into a fit of happy giggles as she drew her friend -- Arianna -- into a tight embrace.

“I thought you were going to ask to leave me,” she gushed, halfway between a giggle and a sob. “Oh my god, of course I remember that! How could I ever forget!” When she pulled Arianna away, her eyes were red and weeping with joyful tears.

“Welcome home, Arianna Lee,” she cooed warmly, passing the ID back to its owner. “And welcome to my family. For real now.”
---
Arianna frowned. The silence after she spoke was broken by the sound of Rhona’s laughter and the frown disappeared from her expression. The sight of tears wasn’t totally unexpected. She’d gotten used to seeing Rhona cry as Acubens in emotional situations so would it stand to reason that she’d be just as open with her emotions as her civilian side? She chuckled softly before hearing Rhona’s admission of what she had thought she was going to tell her. That was a bit of a shock - enough of one that she had to question it.

“I don’t know why you thought that I wanted to leave you. I’ve never even entertained the thought. There would be nothing left for me on the other side of the equation. I’m happier here. Here I have family, both as a powered individual and now as my civilian self. I don’t want to give that up.”

Arianna returned the card to her pocket before drawing Rhona into a second embrace. She was glad that she had been welcomed without a second’s hesitation.

“Thank you Rhona, it means a lot to be welcomed so warmly into your family,” and she paused before recalling other parts of her conversation with Remarque. She grinned up at Rhona before continuing, “we should try to figure out what relation I am to you though. Are we sisters, cousins, half-siblings? Though I suppose it could wait if discussions need to take place. And I have to ask, will Misha be ok with this?”

She had remembered about Rhona’s brother after her meeting with Remarque but by then the information had already been decided upon. Time would tell she guessed.

---
“Well, you know,” Rhona blushed lightly as her weakness was brought into conversation. “Transitions are difficult. Sometimes people think something is something that it is not. Ideas are built up and reality doesn’t live up to it. And I mean… I do worry.” She clutched Arianna’s hands in her own and forced the heat in her face away.

Her tone and mood shifted, however, at the mention of her last name. Rhona waved a dismissive hand in the air between them with a smile.

“Lee isn’t even Misha’s last name. He’s still a Driscoll, like I used to be.”

Though there had been talks. Murmurs under breaths and half finished conversations. Ideas as of late of Misha also changing his name. Maybe more. They had spent so long as mirror images of one another, it was painful now to look so different. Misha had learned the word glamour and it would not leave his lips. Even now, as Tegmine, he was still searching for a way to change his reflection.

But that was for another time. Rhona’s focus was fully on Arianna as she beamed.

“Lee is the name I gave myself when I corrupted. Rhona Lee is gaelic for ‘jagged rock’” She blushed again, admitting, “I was, somehow, more dramatic back then, I suppose. As for where you sit in my family line… I will be as I have always been, Arianna. Whatever you need me to be.”
---
Transitions might have been difficult but so far Arianna hadn’t experienced any such issues. Well, maybe that one night and the following period of time from which she had still been Izobel, the teen that had lost both of her parents. But that was before her corruption. After that moment in time Arianna had been supported by both Rhona and Jett, and their powered alter-egos. But it was the former that had made the transition all the more easy for Arianna. The warmness in which she had been embraced by Rhona, and by extension, Lavender had enabled her to find a new home. She had not once even begun to entertain the idea of returning to the white moon side of life.

“You don’t ever have to worry about me seeking the chance to go back. I am unequivocally devoted to remaining a dark mirror senshi. I have nothing back there. No friends or family. I have that all here. I wonder sometimes about the cat that awoke me, but I know that as scatterbrained as he is, and maybe it’s ill-will to speak as such, but somehow I don’t think Mel even remembers who he awakens at the best of times. I had to get basic knowledge from others, and it wasn’t always applicable knowledge at the time. I don’t know. I guess maybe I latched onto the idea that you had once presented and continued to follow it, regardless of what it might have cost me.”

She sighed before listening to Rhona describe the meaning of her name choice and that for once, she wouldn’t have to worry about what Misha would think of her new identity. Was it relief to know that Misha had absolute no say in the situation or had she been worried for nothing? Arianna didn’t know and wasn’t one to go into self-reflection. As long as Rhona had no issues with her choice of name then she was content.

“I’m glad that you allowed me the chance to use “Lee” as my surname. I would have been perhaps just a little bit more uncertain about what to expect as far as identity creation went if that solid foundation hadn’t been an option.”

Pausing, Arianna glanced around before her gaze once again landed on her beehives. A reminder of her old life that she had been able to bring into her new one. Her mind lingered on what Rhona had said about family lines before she let the silence be broken, “as for familial relations, I guess that is something we could hammer out in due time. All I know with one hundred percent certainty is that, for once, I’ve finally found my forever family.”