Did you like her in the morning, right before all the sleep left your eyes?

Morgana had not been having the most productive day.

Ever since coming to the island and joining Nick’s harem, she had been experiencing a dream come true. Her greatest fantasies had come to life, and she had taken great pleasure in redefining herself as a person and embracing those fantasies.

For the most part, anyway.

Right now, though, she was doing something she was very familiar with, and that was hiding away in her bedroom.

Morgana bundled up tightly under the covers, looking like a pillbug. She was too afraid to poke her head out and face reality given the mess that had been the day before.

I don’t want to make a mess of things again! If I go out, and use a spell on accident, then who knows what might happen!?

Of course, she knew that the odds of that happening were slim to none. After all, her spells had all worn off, and she would need to touch the book again to use them, even by accident. And with her spellbook stowed safely under the bed, there was no chance of that.

She was basically just lying to herself.

If I don’t leave the room, then I don’t have to see Rose or Ella again! That was what Morgana had decided. Yes, running away from her problems, an old classic of hers!

It was quite late in the morning when she finally realized that she was falling into bad habits again.

With a sigh, Morgana slid out of bed and trudged over to the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror.

“What happened to you?” She asked glumly, pulling her bangs out of her face. “Last round, you were brimming with confidence! You were an awesome witch who nobody could talk back to, and now look at you! Pretending to be sick so you don’t have to face those bitchy cheerleaders again, just like back in high school!”

She looked at the nervous, pathetic wretch staring back at her in the mirror.

“…Didn’t we say we were going to change?” She asked her reflection.

Morgana had her suspicions as to the cause of her sudden shift in attitude. Mainly the fact that she was no longer roommates with Dawn, and thus didn’t have that support structure helping pick her up. But that didn’t make sense! A big part of Morgana’s improvement had been due to the effects of the Luxury Suite, helping her become a more confident person like she always wanted to be.

But it seemed like that confidence was gone now; shaken to pieces because of all the mishaps yesterday.

“…Am I really that easy to break down?” She mumbled glumly, looking down at the tile floor. She’d thought she’d made some real changes in her life, but one stumble and she was right back to being that mousy little wallflower.

No! No, you’re not like that anymore! Morgana shook her head firmly and looked back at her reflection, willing her face to look bold and confident again. You’re still that cool, spunky witch you wanted to be! Or at least… not like this.

Morgana didn’t want to go back.

She grabbed a clump of her hair and tied it up, then did the same on the other side of her head. Her twintail style usually looked neater than this, but aesthetics weren’t as important as what it did for her confidence.

Like this, Morgana felt like she could handle it again. Like she could be that cool girl!

“It was just a rough morning,” she said to herself, pacing back and forth. “Nothing you need to worry about. Nothing serious. You just had a tough time today, that’s all, and you needed to refocus and recharge! You’re not backsliding…”

Morgana was trying to convince herself that the negative emotions she had been feeling were all in her head. And that was tricky. But she needed to do it if she wanted to be the kind of person she longed to be, the kind of person who deserved all the friends she’d made, and deserved to be with the guy of her dreams.

So she decided to fake it until she made it, and tromped out the door in her pajamas.

First item on the agenda, Morgana needed to apologize. She’d done so profusely to Rose yesterday already, and the blonde had been fine with it. But Ella had run off before Morgana could properly make amends. So even though she felt a nervousness in her chest as she considered the possibility that her friend didn’t want anything to do with her anymore, she didn’t let that get her down.

She couldn’t.

After all, making things right with Ella mattered more than her own personal comfort, so she crossed the lounge and walked to the door of the Fashion Suite, and put all her strength into knocking.

Is Ella even in? Breakfast was hours ago. She might have already started her day and went off somewhere.

Morgana dispelled those doubts with a shake of her head and knocked again. If Ella wasn’t here, then she’d just have to find her!

She couldn’t hear anything through the door. Maybe the latina really had left already. That made her a braver person than Morgana, at least.

Just as the goth had given up and decided to go seek her friend out somewhere else, the door opened up a crack.

“…What do you want?” A voice Morgana recognized whispered from just past it.

Morgana’s eyes widened and she whirled around, her heart skipping a beat. She recognized the familiar flash of amber of her friend’s eye, and opened her mouth to greet her when she stopped herself.

Who was it that had answered the door? Morgana could hardly see the other girl through the crack. She was pretty sure it was Ella, but it might be Cinder. And that doubt was enough to make her hesitate; her voice died in her throat for a second.

“U-uhm…”

The door started to close.

“…W-wait!” Morgana frantically rushed forward. “D-don’t shut me out! I-I need to apologize, please! Please?” She begged.

“…Apologize?” The other girl asked hesitantly. “Why?”

Morgana blinked. “You… don’t you remember?” Maybe it was Cinder after all.

“Remember… your spells?”

Or maybe it was Ella. But it could be Cinder!

…Morgana’s head was starting to hurt. She didn’t really care either way- they were the same woman at the end of the day, anyhow!

“Ella… or… or, Cinder… …No, I should be apologizing to both of you, I guess,” she stammered. “I’m sorry my magic went out of control like that. Did… did you find some way to fix it? Did you, um… I mean… if there’s anything I can do…”

“It’s fine, it’s… fixed,” the other girl mumbled back. “Don’t worry about it. I just need some rest.”

And with that, the small crack giving Morgana glimpse of her friend was shut closed. Morgana still didn’t know if she had been talking to Ella or Cinder, but honestly it didn’t matter. She had managed to express her apologies, and they had been accepted.

Maybe now she could stop blaming herself.

And yet, Morgana didn’t feel better about it. She still felt a stirring doubt in her chest, doubt in herself.

I’m glad Ella (or Cinder) decided she could forgive me, and isn’t blaming me. But… I still crawled away and hid this morning instead of apologizing first thing, didn’t? I guess that means I haven’t changed that much at all, huh?

That stung almost as much as the knowledge that she’d hurt one of her friends with her magic.

Morgana didn’t really know what to do with herself after that. She wandered back to the lounge and flopped down onto the couch. She looked up at the Bounty Board, wondering if anything had been posted that might give her some direction for an otherwise aimless day.

Nope. Nothing. Maybe Dakota was being stingy with the bounties this round since all the girls had a large stock of BP that they weren’t doing anything with.

Thinking of that made Morgana think about Dawn. And then she realized what she wanted to do with her day.

“That’s right! Maybe… maybe if I talk to Dawn, she might be able to help!” Morgana said hopefully, adjusting her hat. Somehow she’d snagged it before leaving her room earlier without even realizing she had it on.

Dawn was always good at giving advice and helping Morgana figure out what to do when she wasn’t sure about herself. If anyone would be able to help, it would definitely be her!

…Now, how to find her.

Well… Morgana could have scoured the whole hotel for the cat girl, but she decided that maybe she should just check and see if Dawn was in her bedroom? Ella was, after all. And the door was right there…

She hopped to her feet and decided to do it. Time to be bold! Dawn would certainly appreciate Morgana’s wisdom in deciding to eliminate the possibility, anyway.

Morgana knocked on the door, and was met with a very unappreciative Dawn.

“Uh… Morgana?” The cat girl rubbed her eyes and put her glasses back on, getting a close look at the pale girl. “…Why are you wearing your pajamas?”

It was only then that Morgana became aware of her state of dress. She looked down and her face turned red. Her head snapped up, and she stammered, “Um… why are you?”

Brilliant, Morgana. Great. Nice work!

Dawn stared at the goth with bleary eyes, wondering if she were serious or not. “…I was trying to get some sleep,” she replied.

“…Oh. Uh… are you sure that’s a good idea?” Morgana asked awkwardly.

Dawn looked at her with a surly expression. “Getting sleep? Nah, I hear it’s terrible for you, actually,” she said sarcastically. “9 out of 10 doctors say to forget about it.”

Morgana winced, giggling in spite of herself. She knew Dawn was just kidding around. “Sorry, I just meant, well… last round, you were kinda upset about sleeping in all the time, so…”

Dawn’s ears twitched. She could tell Morgana was coming at this from a place of caring, so she wasn’t that bothered.

“…Fair enough,” she sighed, nodding. “You’re not wrong. This is a little different though. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, because, well…”

She shrugged. The reasoning spoke for itself.

Morgana nodded. “Makes sense,” she mumbled, turning red as she imagined what Dawn had gotten up to on her date that would keep her up all night. “Sorry to bother you then, I’ll, uh, let you get back to sleep.”

Dawn yawned and shook her head, stopping Morgana from closing the door. “No, it’s fine… you’re right, I should probably wake up. Don’t want to mess up my sleep schedule before Gina’s party, after all, and sleep through THAT tomorrow night.”

And besides, Morgana looked like she could use some help. Not that Dawn was necessarily able to give it, though.

“So what’s up?” She asked, letting the goth girl inside.

“It’s… I had a rough day yesterday,” Morgana groaned. She walked into the Arcade Suite and flopped down onto the bed immediately; it was one of the only soft surfaces in the room, after all. “You remember, with all the spells?”

Dawn blinked. “…Yeah, vaguely…”

She specifically remembered Ella and Nick getting hot and heavy in the bathroom, and the resulting mess that was Cinder. But Morgana wasn’t there for that part. Or the parts afterwards where she and Nick had…

“Dawn?”

Oops. Dawn had lost her train of thought. That was unusual. Maybe she was more tired than she’d realized.

“Yeah, sorry, so, the spells?”

“I was feeling really guilty last night, and this morning, so… so I locked myself up in my room!” Morgana wailed dramatically. “I know that’s not a big deal, but I’m really worried! I think I might be backsliding, Dawn!”

Dawn blinked. “Backsliding?”

“Yes! Going back into my old habits! Back in high school, I was always afraid of confrontation,” Morgana gushed out. “It’s why I got into witchcraft in the first place. I could get **** on all those mean girls from the comfort of my bedroom!”

Dawn nodded in understanding. While she’d always ignored cliques and mean girls, she definitely empathized with the feeling of secluding yourself to enjoy things on your own.

“But see, I thought I’d moved past that, right?” Morgana rolled all over herself in bed like she was trying to smear her tears into the sheets. “I thought I’d become new and cool and bold! But… I was super-worried about how everybody else thought of me this morning! I was afraid they were going to blame me, or look down on me… and I reacted just like I did last time, remember?”

“Last time… yeah, I think so, with the diary, right?” Dawn may have been a little drowsy but her memory was as sharp as ever. She vividly remembered the Morgana apology tour.

“I don’t want to be like that anymore,” Morgana grumbled, sitting up in bed and letting out a sigh. “Always worried what people think about me… I want to be bold and confident, you know, like you, or Rose! You guys don’t care what people think about you?”

Dawn was about to say that wasn’t true, at least for her. She did care quite a bit about what other people thought of her. She just didn’t let those concerns define who she was. But before she could share that nugget of wisdom, Morgana came to the same conclusion for herself.

“Maybe I’m thinking too much about it,” she mumbled, looking down thoughtfully at the floor. “Maybe it’s not about how other people see me… maybe it’s okay to be worried about that?”

Dawn raised her eyebrow. “Well-”

“I mean, I don’t want to be a sociopath or something, right?!” Morgana’s face twisted with alarm and she looked up at Dawn. “That would just be awful! Not caring about what anyone else thinks?”

No, Morgana definitely shouldn’t aspire to be a sociopath, Dawn could nod in agreement with that.

“But I don’t want to be paralyzed with fear about what other people think of me, either,” the goth girl added, looking glum again. “…So what do you think, Dawn? Am I backsliding? Is there anything I can do to stop… I don’t know, getting so caught up in my own head?”

Dawn really didn’t know what Morgana wanted her to say. After all, it wasn’t like Dawn was in Morgana’s head.

Maybe if she’d had a little more sleep, she could have come up with something supportive to say a little faster. But Morgana was impatient and had already started talking about her own thoughts on the matter again.

“I was scared that Ella would be mad at me, and I didn’t want to face her,” Morgana continued. “But I eventually decided I had to, you know? Because she’s my friend. But I was still scared about what she would say… is that normal?”

Dawn nodded, still trying to catch up. It didn’t help that every word out of Morgana’s mouth was turning her on a little. “I think it-”

“Maybe that’s just it! Maybe I just haven’t been thinking about it correctly!” Morgana gasped. Her red eyes widened and she hopped out of bed, startling Dawn.

“C-correctly?” The confused cat girl stammered.

“Yeah! I mean… I thought it was a bad thing, right, being so insecure that I was afraid about what other people thought of me, but maybe… maybe I was looking at it the wrong way!” Morgana rushed to explain what she’d just realized. “But the thing is… I’m different now! Different from how I was in high school, anyway.”

Dawn’s tail flicked behind her and she nodded slowly. “…Yeah, you’re definitely different,” she agreed completely.

“I want to be the kind of friend my friends deserve to have,” she explained. Just saying it felt like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “Don’t you think that Nick deserves that, too? Someone who cares about people? Worrying about what others think of me, that isn’t always about insecurity! Sometimes it’s about making sure that I can be the best friend that I can. That’s what I should have been thinking his morning, instead of wallowing in my own guilt! It’s okay to feel bad when you make a friend feel bad, and it doesn’t make you a doormat! Don’t you think, Dawn!?”

Dawn stared blankly at her. Her mind was a haze of hormones and confusion. But she had managed to piece together at least some of what Morgana was saying, and she nodded slowly. “Uh… yeah. That makes sense to me, I guess.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Dawn!” Morgana gushed, leaping forward and pulling the tired cat girl into a tight hug. “You’re the best! I knew I could count on you to help me figure out how to solve all my problems!”

Dawn just let Morgana hug her. She hadn’t even done anything, had she?

“Can’t… breathe…” she mumbled out into Morgana’s boobs.

“Oh, uh, sorry!” Morgana let the cat girl go and smiled sheepishly at her. An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, and then Morgana’s face lit up.

Dawn returned a shaky smile of her own.

“I should probably get going now,” Morgana chirped, skipping towards the door. “I’ll let you get back to your nap! But, uh, thanks again. It really means a lot that you’re willing to give me such helpful advice all the time!”

“Uh-huh, yeah, uh… happy to help,” Dawn mumbled, staring at the door as Morgana slammed it shut behind her.

Did I even do anything?

Dawn yawned, not knowing the answer to that question. It didn’t really matter, the point was that Morgana was happy. And Dawn could finally get back to sleep. Not that the goth girl’s Sotto Voce transformation had done her any favors.

Meanwhile, Morgana skipped back to her room to get changed, grateful that she had a wonderful friend like Dawn looking out for her and helping her out. Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend like her to support them when they couldn’t handle their own problems themselves!