9 years and 364 days later

Emma’s POV

“And that should fill in the gaps in your memory for you of how your aunts and the first CYA team were at the start of the yurivolution that changed the world afterward.”

The beautiful blonde woman in front of me looked at me with a strict gaze. She exuded leadership with every fiber of her being. She had changed so much. I remember how Fien used to fool around with me when she came babysitting at our place.

“It is exactly because of those happenings, that I have such high expectations for you. You have some big shoes to fill, but I am sure you will do fine because it runs in your blood.”

Fien looked at me with an endearing smile. “Now that your aunt Anna will take over as the CEO of the Lyst group after her marriage tomorrow, it has been decided that I will become the new director of the CYA.”

I knew that had been her longstanding dream so I could not help it and said “Congratulations Fien! I am so happy for you!” I got up and gave her a hug.

Fien happily received the hug, and after we released it, she put a contract in front of me and said “It is the same contract all of us original girls got so many years ago. If you sign it, you will have to call me director Anciers from now on when we are at the job.” I could see by the smile on her face that Fien was overjoyed at that prospect. I guess she didn’t change that much after all. She just learned to keep up appearances a little better.

There were no doubts in my mind, I had worked hard and spent all my free time on FBY projects in the hope that I would be selected for the CYA. It had been a long time since someone my age had been selected, but I knew I worked hard for this opportunity. So I took up the pen next to the contract and signed my name “Emma Brossé”.

“I’m so happy to finally have you aboard! Here is your badge. Even though it is work, I promise you, this going to be so much fun!”

I already had always taken all the advice Fien had given me to heart and had even done some extra courses in yuriology and yuri-awareness during the holidays. She had been ten times as hard on me after I told her I wanted to be part of the CYA. I knew Fien was also hard on herself and had studied really hard during the last years. Even with all the knowledge, she acquired she often said “If you really get stuck, there is no shame in calling Claire for advice. Even though she retired from the bureau, her advice is always sound. I can’t imagine what kind of work she must have done to get this good at this.”

I can’t remember Aunt Claire studying that hard except for the fact that she loved reading yuri manga from time to time. If she really had spare time, you could always find her in the kitchen, or she would go out on dates with Aunt Anna.

Now that I had signed my contract Fien said “Not that I ever doubted that you wouldn’t be chosen with that genetic makeup of yours.”

I had inherited my father’s ability to immediately be attracted to girls that liked other girls. People that worked with me on FBY cases called it a cheat. But I was proud that I had it and lucky that I wasn’t a boy.

It was the end of the day, so I asked, “Are you coming to the bachelorette party at Femme Fatale?”

“Of course, Maura is going to the one at the Lyst estate. We can’t see each other until the wedding. That is the tradition.”

Tomorrow was the day the nation had been looking forward to. The queen would have to be true to her word and perform the marriage of all the original CYA couples since they were all still together.

Changing the stand of the crown on gay marriage in such an epic way was another one of Aunt Claire’s many achievements. It was one of the smaller ones after she received the Nobel prize for peace and a team joint Nobel prize for science for inventing yuridium and the changes it led to in society. That was after all the start of the big yurivolution. Everything was yuridium-powered these days. The Yuripean union spread further than ever and was more powerful than the European Union in many ways.

There were even several statues and boulevards named after Claire. Like the “Boulevard Jeanne D’Arc de Yuri” in the city center of Brussels, and the massive statue of her in front of the Atomium that had become really big tourist attractions.  

Grandma Bernie was still at the head of the Yuripean union. She and Grandma Lisa were constantly traveling across the globe. So, it was always a special occasion when they had time to visit. I looked very much forward to seeing them tomorrow at the wedding.

Fien and I were leaving the office together. Since we were going to the same place anyway, Fien offered me a ride home.

There was a “Reserved for a private party” tag at the entrance of Femme Fatale, so when we entered there were only familiar faces around.

It had been a long time since I last saw some of them, but the one I was looking forward to seeing the most was my godmother who stood there radiantly talking to Mary and Tory.  It had been ages since she had visited us. Her restaurant chain had been an international success, and the little free time she had she always spent with Aunt Anna.

I ran toward her and shouted, “Auntie Claire!” and gave her a big hug. She hugged me back and gave me a kiss on my forehead and said jokingly “Aren’t you getting a bit big for these hugs. One of these days you will just tackle me to the ground.”

“You should visit more often, that way I would not get that excited each time I finally get to see you.”

I noticed Tory and Mari’s bellies. They were clearly both at least 6 months pregnant. “Congratulations!” I shouted. “Has it really been that long?”  I had heard their kids came from the same donor so they would really be siblings. I thought that was a cute way to keep their family together.

The last time they visited was when Tory had to perform a concert that invited all the former laureates of the queen Elizabeth competition to promote the next one, and if I had to believe what people told me, Tory had become one of the best pianists in the world.  Mary on the other hand had quit working in kitchens. Instead, she had become Tory’s personal assistant so they could travel the world together. They had a difficult period when Tory’s career took off and Mary was leading a kitchen. They almost had no time for each other and when Mary realized she had to choose between Tory or work, the decision had been quickly made. I remember it so well because it was one of aunt Claire’s and Aunt Anna’s famous Y-files that were used in yuriology classes to show that follow-up was important after getting a couple together. If a couple could overcome hardships together, the bursts of yuridium that came off of them would be higher than ever. It was one of the laws of Odes in yuriology. Every child could tell you that.

 I was really impressed by Mary’s determination, that she would even set her dreams aside for Tory, but when I asked her about that she just said, “Once you know who you want to spend your life with, making them happy becomes your dream.” That sentence had made me hope that one day someone would say something as romantic as that to me. But so far, no luck for Emma. I brought plenty of other girls happiness but nobody ever looked at me that way. Fien had said to me that it was because I was only 13 but I knew that she and Maura were already together at that age so I did not think that was really an excuse.

Talking about Fien, I noticed she was talking to Aunt Mia, so I ran up to say hi. I saw a lot more of Aunt Mia these days since she still worked at the Yuriology lab with Professor Odes. I heard she often had lunch meetings with both the professor and Kath Lyst to discuss her latest work, so she must be doing some really important work if even Kath Lyst had taken a personal interest.

“Emma, is that you?” A voice rose from the kitchen that I recognized all too well. “You promised to be home early and would babysit your brother and sister.”

“It’s still early and I can see they are having fun playing.” Nico and Tine were running around playing some form of tag. “I will take them up when it’s their bedtime.”

“Fine, just keep an eye on them, because your dad and I are busy.”

Sam had married my father, but I had never started to call her mom. It felt like I would have betrayed my real mom. I knew that mom and Sam hated each other. How could I not know that? Ever since I saw Sam slap mom in her face at Aunt Claire’s idol show at the school festival all those years ago, they had been like fire and ice. Even though I figured out later what must have happened, and it probably was mom’s own fault, I remember that that slap had left a big impression on me, and I had been scared of Sam for a long time. I chuckled at that thought. Those days were long gone, and now we got along just fine. I just considered her more as a friend than as a mother.

Grandma Bernie and Grandma Lisa had given Frank and Sam Femme Fatale as a wedding present, and they had been running it together ever since.

“Is that Emma you are talking to?” Dad came out of the kitchen to greet me. Ever since he got together with Sam, he had been minding his diet and working out and he was no longer overweight. Sam would not tolerate him doing anything unhealthy, at first, I thought she was really way too strict about those things, but when I saw the results, I had to admit that my dad looked a lot more energetic and healthier these days.

I gave him a big hug, and a kiss, before he went back to the kitchen. After all, he was responsible for the food tonight.

Then through the door entered two other big celebrities for the bachelorettes' party: Elsa and Therese. I immediately ran toward them. I was so glad Aunt Claire was friends with them. I greeted them with a kiss and asked them for a selfie. Elsa sighed and acted like she was bothered, but the happy smile on her face betrayed her. Luckily, I knew from our older case files that she was a notorious tsundere. So, I said, “Thank you, you’re the best!”

“I will take that picture for you if you want.” Gazette suddenly popped up next to me. I hadn’t even noticed her before. Where did she come from all of the sudden?  Well, I wasn’t about to say no, to having my picture taken by the famous fashion photographer of Thea Magazine, so Elsa Therese and I posed together. Gazette gave us some instructions, and a few minutes later, the three of us were already trending on social media, and all of my friends envied me for being able to spend an evening with the two idols.

Yati

Welcome to the very last Y-files week! Tomorrow we will end the epilogue and say to goodbye to Claire and Anna. I have written 4 epilogue chapters for you all. The next one will be up in a few hours.

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