lights: Kala's away from home for Diwali; the cluster decides to celebrate with her in their own way.

It all starts when she happens to see the date – 14th October – and she feels a pang in her chest as she realises what this would mean if she was home. Wolfgang is immediately by her side as he picks up on her emotions, his eyes scanning her face with concern. They've been free of BPO for weeks, but he's still on edge, paranoid, unable to completely forget the torture he went through when they took him.

"Wolfgang, hey," she says, moving her arms to cup his jaw, forcing him to look at her, knowing exactly where his thoughts are going. "I'm fine, really."

Wolfgang nods in response, closing his eyes, his body visibly relaxing as he realises that she's not in any danger and that she's – they're – okay. He frowns a little as he slowly understands what she had really been feeling, tensing his jaw. Kala bites her lip, patiently smoothing her fingers over his mouth until he relaxes again.

"You miss it," he notes, his forehead furrowing. "Home."

Kala shrugs, shakes her head, keeping her hands on his face. "A little," she admits, but continues speaking before he has the time to process this properly. "I love it here, I do," she tells him truthfully, gesturing with one hand to the apartment they're currently staying in with Felix in Paris. "But, if I was back home, we'd be preparing for Diwali now. This is the first time I've ever been away for it."

Wolfgang blinks at her, squinting slightly. "It's the festival of lights," she explains slowly, before proceeding to tell him about the history of the festival and the traditions they follow. He's not a believer in the gods and goddesses, but he listens to her anyway, tries to understand simply because she feels so strongly about it.

"Sounds nice," Wolfgang says once she's stopped talking, and she smiles wistfully as she shifts closer to press her face against his neck, wordlessly sharing a memory of her last Diwali with him: the soft glow of lamps in her house, colourful streamers hanging from the ceiling, the sound of firecrackers in the distance. She feels him relax against her, experiencing the memory as if it was his, his eyes falling shut. He looks peaceful – truly peaceful – for the first time in weeks.

"One day," she tells him, running a hand softly along his jaw, and it's more of a promise than a hope. They're free from BPO now, but she still hasn't quite figured out what to tell Rajan and her parents. With Wolfgang here with her though – really here – she feels confident with her choices and she knows what she needs to do. She just has to work out how to do it. "One day we'll go."

He nods, tightens his grip around her waist.

Five days have passed, and she wakes up to a barrage of swirling lights in front of her eyes. She immediately closes her eyes again, her mind still too fuzzy from sleep to figure out exactly what's going on, rolling over instinctively in the bed to where Wolfgang should be but finding the other side empty.

"Wolfgang," she calls questioningly, both with her voice and in her mind, tugging at him with her thoughts. She feels him then, realises that he's just outside with Felix and allows herself to nestle back into the pillows, her eyes still closed. It takes five seconds before she hears his footsteps approaching, frowning slightly as she senses a peculiar feeling of pride building in her chest; pride that is not hers but is emanating from Wolfgang.

"She's awake," she hears him say, and she notices that they're not alone, slowly opening her eyes again to see Lito's beaming face hovering right over her, blocking everything from view.

"Good morning, sister," Lito says excitedly, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he pulls her up – firmly, but gently – into a sitting position. Kala can't help but smile in return, his enthusiasm infectious. She knows how down he has been feeling in the past few months, having gone straight from the fiasco with Joaquin to running from BPO, and seeing him like this, so carefree and himself, makes her heart expand.

"Good morning," she greets, still smiling, but then frowns slightly as he backs away from her a bit and she sees him exchange a secretive glance with Wolfgang (who, she notes, has clearly been awake for a while, his eyes focused and alert, but has somehow not found the time to pull on a shirt yet. It's not a complaint, just an…observation.) "Okay, what's going on?"

They both turn to her then, matching grins on their faces as they gesture around the room, hands moving almost in sync. She's not sure whether it's the link between them that make their actions so coordinated, or whether it's because they've clearly been planning something together, or maybe a bit of both, but—

"Oh my," she breathes out as she glances around her and it hits her that the lights she had seen before when she first woke up were because at some point during her sleep, the room has been draped with fairy lights. It's not neat – far from it – but Wolfgang's intentions are clear, and it makes her heart beat hard, remembering their conversation from last week. She reaches for him and he moves to stand in front of her, allowing her to press a kiss against his mouth.

"Thank you," she whispers softly, but when she opens her eyes again, they're not in Paris anymore but in Mexico. She blinks, adjusting to the change, and then smiles widely as she notes that Lito's apartment is also draped in fairy lights, but it's much neater and it's much more extravagant. The room is lit up in a rainbow of colours, and whilst Lito's apartment has always felt inviting and warm to her, a reflection of the man himself, she thinks this is on a whole other level.

"This is amazing! I love the colours," she says to Lito, who immediately wraps her up in a hug. Over his shoulder, she spots Hernando and Dani, bemused smiles on their faces as they watch Lito hug the empty air. They understand what is happening though, so they both step forward, hands outstretched. She switches places with Lito momentarily so that she can hug both of them in turn.

"It looks amazing, doesn't it?" Dani asks, unaware that she had said the same thing moments ago. She nods in agreement, still in Lito's body, and repeats her words from before. Dani beams in response, giving her a mock-curtsy.

Kala switches back, slowly raising an eyebrow as she realises just how dark it is outside his window. "Isn't it really late where you are?" She asks him, her mind immediately doing the time-zone calculation. She doesn't think she's ever seen Lito in the mornings whilst she's been in Paris, the man usually making his presence known in the afternoons.

Lito just laughs it off, shrugs, before pulling her into another hug. "Don't worry about me, hermana," he says, pressing one final kiss to her cheek as he adds, "besides, we're not the only ones." She blinks at that, not sure what to make of that cryptic statement, but then her world spins suddenly and she shuts her eyes, focusing on Wolfgang's steady presence at her back to stop herself from becoming too disorientated. Even now, months after they first discovered what they could do – what they were – this visiting and sharing business still takes her aback sometimes; if only because she's still trying to figure out the science behind it all and understand how this is possible. She feels Wolfgang nudge her waist gently, then senses Riley and Will, and she opens her eyes to find herself in Iceland where they're visiting Riley's father.

"What do you think?" Riley asks in that lilting, musical voice of hers as their eyes meet, immediately stepping forward to take her hand. Will smiles at her in greeting, looking pleased, and she allows herself to glance around the room, gasping softly at the warm lamps lit up in every corner and the ribbons in all different shades of blue draped carefully over the piano. She reaches forward to smooth her hand over one of the strands, knowing without asking that Riley must have been in charge of the decorations—

"—Hey, whoa, I helped! It wasn't all Riley," Will interrupts, giving her a defensive look, but he's smiling as he says it. She laughs, allowing the two of them to pull her into a tight hug, smiling as they then move to clap Wolfgang on the back (Will) and squeeze his hand (Riley). She suspects now what her cluster have done for her and she doesn't think her heart has ever felt so full.

Wolfgang just grins at her, looping his arm around her waist again and she leans back against his chest. She realises that she's oddly speechless, for once, not able to express just how thankful she is. "Close your eyes," he tells her moments later, and she does. She opens them again when she feels the heat of the sun on her face and her body, and her mouth has already formed the word 'Capheus' before she has even opened her eyes to look at him properly.

"Kala! You're finally here! And Wolfgang too!" Capheus exclaims as he looks up, his trademark look of boyish enthusiasm shining brightly on his face. He gestures for them to join him on the sofa and they both laugh as they sit, glance at the TV and realise that he's watching Lionheart again. She realises then that there are eight candles placed on the floor in front of the TV, all in a line, one for each of them.

"I tried to find some lamps as well," Capheus says as he follows her gaze, his tone earnest, "but I could only—"

"—It's perfect," Kala cuts him off, smiling and taking his hand. She leans back against the sofa, reaching for Wolfgang's hand as well, and they sit in silence for a few minutes, watching the movie on the screen. The characters in the film have just gotten themselves involved in some fight – at which she winces, as she always does, causing Capheus and Wolfgang to silently exchange amused looks at her expense; she nudges them both firmly in the side at that – when her world shifts again, and she's suddenly in a familiar apartment, her eyes abused with colour and glitter.

"Neets, she's here!"

Nomi gives her a rueful, almost apologetic look as she gestures around her apartment. "Neets went a little bit…overboard," she explains defeatedly, and Kala can't help but laugh out loud as she realises that not only is the whole apartment filled with fairy lights, streamers and glitter, but Nomi herself is also covered. She has a string of fairy lights wrapped around her neck, glitter in her hair.

"It's the festival of lights! There's no such thing as 'overboard'," Amanita retorts, grinning as she reaches them, and she turns to where she thinks Kala is standing, locating her position almost perfectly. "Right, Kala?"

Kala laughs again, nods.

"She agrees with you," Nomi says, passing on the message, and Amanita squeals, reaching past them to grab the glitter bottle, proceeding to start covering the floor with the stuff. "Neets, wait, stop—" Nomi starts, but she doesn't make any physical move to stop her, just watches her affectionately.

"I'm sorry for this," Wolfgang comments, smirking as he observes the scene in front of him, before stepping back hastily as Amanita suddenly starts brandishing the glitter bottle in their direction. Kala grins at his reaction, knowing that even though Wolfgang must know he's not actually there and not really in any danger of being covered in glitter, he's alarmed nevertheless. She notes this overreaction for the future, laughing at Wolfgang's helpless expression once he realises that she's caught on to his emotions.

Nomi's laughing then as well, both of them imaging the sight of Wolfgang – dark, brooding Wolfgang – covered in shiny, colourful glitter, and Amanita stops her waving to glance at her curiously. "What's going on? What are they saying?"

"Wolfgang's afraid of glitter," she answers, grinning wider as Wolfgang steps back again, glaring at both Nomi and Kala defensively as he crosses his arms, trying to be intimidating – but they know he doesn't mean it so it doesn't quite work. Kala reaches for him, steps up on her tiptoes to ruffle his hair, laughing again as he pulls a face, his eyes softening reluctantly at her touch. She's about to start devising a plan with Nomi involving Wolfgang and glitter when—

—She's in Sun's apartment, heat flooding her body again. It's hot, almost unbearably so, but it reminds her of home and she takes some comfort in it. Sun's apartment is suspiciously bare, minimalistic – she hasn't been back in Korea for long (it took longer than they thought to clear her name), but Kala suspects that she prefers it like this anyway – and she raises an eyebrow at the girl in greeting.

Sun just shrugs, before kneeling on the floor, calling out, and Kala grins as her dog rushes in and she realises that Sun has swapped out his usual collar for a light-up one.

"This counts," Sun tells her solemnly, but it's really directed at Wolfgang. Wolfgang laughs lowly from somewhere behind her, nods.

"It does," he replies, his tone just as serious.

Kala glances between the two, before wordlessly asking Sun to switch with her. She lets her, and suddenly she's on the floor in front of the dog, feeling him lap at her face. She smiles, running her hand through his fur, enjoying the softness and warmth, feeling an overwhelming sense of affection for the dog which is not entirely Sun's. She's scratching his back, laughing at the way he rolls over to lean into the touch when she finds herself back in Paris again, Wolfgang kneeling on the mattress in front of her.

"Thank you," she tells him, taking his face in her hands, knowing that whilst she doesn't doubt that every member of the cluster would have wanted to help her with her sudden wave of homesickness last week, this level of coordination must have required some planning. She knows without a doubt that it was Wolfgang's doing. He just smiles at her, eyes intense, leaning ever so slightly into her touch.

They sit like that for a while in peaceful silence before Kala suddenly frowns, raising an eyebrow at him. "How did I not realise this was going on? I thought we were all…connected?"

Wolfgang just shrugs, tightens his grip around her waist. "I wasn't sure whether you had figured it out yet," he says, shrugging again, "but we all agreed to try and keep it a secret."

She considers this for a moment, then beams at him and reaches down to interlace their fingers, pressing her mouth softly against his. She's been fortunate enough to have had lots of people who love her in her life, but she doesn't think anyone has ever done something like this for her.

"There is one last thing," Wolfgang says as they break apart, giving her a cryptic smile as he pulls her out of the bed and out to the lounge, "but I'll let Felix explain."

"Kala, hello!" Felix greets loudly from where he's sprawled on the sofa when he spots them, already nursing a beer in his hand. "Did Wolfgang take all the credit for the lights?"

She blinks.

"Felix—" Wolfgang starts, but trails off as he realises there's no point in trying to stop him from talking.

"He better not have," Felix continues, as if Wolfgang hadn't spoken, taking a sip of his beer. He gives Kala a conspiratorial look, pats the spot on the sofa next to him. "Wolfie's fucking useless at decorating, you know. He almost burnt the shop down once when he was trying to decorate a Christmas tree; it's why I only ever let him paint the window now—"

"—Felix," Wolfgang interrupts again, his cheeks looking suspiciously flushed, reaching out and clapping him on the back; hard enough to make Felix yelp in protest, but it's not without affection. "Stop talking and show her."

Felix blinks, then grins toothily as he realises what Wolfgang is talking about. He reaches behind himself to grab something before brandishing a tube of henna in her face.

"It took us fucking forever to find this," he tells Kala emphatically, "Wolfie and I searched for ages. Doesn't help that both of us are useless at speaking French." Kala smiles in response, gently pulls it from him, her heart feeling almost painfully full.

"Will you show us how to do it?" Felix asks, almost shyly, but then it's gone, replaced with his usual bravado as Kala grins, nods. Wolfgang leans back against the sofa, glancing between Felix and her slyly, and she suddenly finds herself standing in a market somewhere in Paris – but she's not really there, it's his memory – watching Felix wildly gesturing as he tries to both bargain for a lower price for the tube of henna and ask the seller for her number. He's unsuccessful with both.

"Hey, Wolfie, what's going on?" Felix asks, breaking her out of the memory, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the two of them. Wolfgang just grins, shrugs, a low laugh escaping as Felix catches on, swearing rapidly at him in German. Kala sighs, understanding every word, and puts her hands out to stop them from engaging in a wrestling match around her.

"Stop," she tells them, before moving to perch in front of them, taking Wolfgang's hand in one of hers, the tube of henna in the other. Felix protests at this, but she just shakes her head, laughs, promising to do his hand after. She bites her lip as she starts working, her eyes feeling suspiciously wet as she suddenly feels six other hands in hers, glancing up to see the faces of her cluster, smiling down at her. She misses her family back home, yes, but with all these people around her, she can't possibly feel alone.

Inspired by the photo of the cast celebrating Diwali together!

(I apologise for any inaccuracies.)