The next day, Carmen was sitting outside the orphanage, watching the children playing on the playground.

"Isabella, come play with us!" Spoke the pitchy voice of a little boy as he walked over to Carmen.

"I told you before, Louise. It's Isabel. And I don't think I'll fit on those little swings." She laughed.

"Pretty pleeeaaasseee! You don't have to play on the swings! You can play soccer instead!" Louise pleaded, holding up a soccer ball.

Carmen sighed, "Alright, let's go play."

Suddenly, three more children ran up to Carmen. They began tugging on her shirt, clinging onto her legs and chanting her name.

"Isabel! Isabel! Isabel!"

"What is it?" Carmen responded, softly pushing the children off her.

"There's a funky looking man over there! He's walking towards us!"

Carmen furrowed her brows and looked up. There, she saw a middle-aged man carrying two large boxes up to the orphanage.

"Are you Carlotta?" He asked as he put the boxes down.

Carmen smiled, "No, I'm her daughter."

"Oh, that makes more sense. You're too young, but you look a lot like her."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. What are the boxes for?"

"These are toys given from a charity fundraiser in the US."

"Toys!" The children cheered.

Carmen laughed, "You can leave the toys there. My mom and I will take care of them on our own."

"Fine with me."

Carmen waved the man goodbye and turned to the kids. That's when she spotted her mother and Elena making their way towards her.

"I see the delivery guy has finally brought the toys," Carlotta said, hands on her hips.

"Can we open them now?" A little girl asked.

"Not yet, but you'll get to soon," Carlotta assured, "Isabel, Elena, help me move these to the shack."

Carmen and Elena nodded and picked up the boxes. They carried them to the back of the orphanage, where a small shack awaited them. It wasn't very tidy. Empty boxes, broken shelves, gardening tools, dusty counters, and large cobwebs engulfed the entire area. Carmen didn't know why her mother wanted the toys here out of all places, but she assumed it was for a good reason.

They stepped inside and placed the boxes on one of the counters.

"Man, we really need to clean up this place more often," Elena said, swatting away a cobweb.

"Don't you think cleaning up the kids' bedrooms and the cafeteria is challenging enough?" Carmen asked.

"It is, which is why I let you do all the hard work." Elena laughed.

Carmen playfully punched Elena in the arm as Carlotta stepped inside the shack.

"We'll sort the toys and give them to the kids later," Carlotta said, hands on her hips, "Right now, I need to give the kids their lunch. Isabel, you help Elena prepare for her first day back at school tomorrow."

Carmen smiled.

Just like Player, Elena had been doing homeschool her entire life until Carlotta finally decided Elena should attend school in person.

Carmen was happy for her! She knew Elena would have a great time.

She glanced over at her sister, expecting an ecstatic expression on her face. But to Carmen's surprise, there was only grief, which was a little out of character for Elena.

"Yeah, I'll help her." Carmen finally said, keeping her gaze on Elena.

"Thank you, Isabel. You two run along then."

Carmen nodded and led Elena to her room. As they walked inside the orphanage and made their way through the halls, the atmosphere between them was dead silent. There was an occasional grumble that escaped through Elena's mouth, but she never said anything.

They eventually reached Elena's room. Carmen walked over to the closet and starting rummaging through it to find Elena the perfect outfit for tomorrow.

"So, big day tomorrow! Are you excited?"

"Can you please stopgoingthroughmystuff..." Elena mumbled.

Carmen raised a brow, "What did you say?"

"I said," Elena yelled, her voice rising with every word, "Stop going through my stuff!"

"I was just-"

"Can't you see?" Elena continued, "I don't need your help! I can manage on my own! So stop treating me like a baby and just leave!"

Carmen furrowed her brows. Elena never acted like this. Sure she teased and played around often, but she never acted so rudely towards her.

Something was definitely up.

"Are you okay? Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine! And I don't need your help, I just need you to leave!"

Carmen sighed, "Fine. I'll leave." She walked out of the room, leaving Elena all alone.

***

The next morning, Elena was getting ready for her first day at school. She didn't wear an attractive outfit, considering that she didn't let Carmen finish choosing her clothes for her. Elena only wore a simple red sweater and dark gray jeans.

She walked over to the mirror, cringing at her messy braid.

She pulled the hair tie out of her hair and used her hairbrush to slowly brush out the tangles.

After brushing her hair, Elena reached for her hair tie to tie them back. As she stretched out the band, Elena thought about what she said to Carmen last night. They hadn't talked since, and she knew it was her fault.

Snapping at Carmen wasn't a smart decision, especially when she was trying to help her. She couldn't imagine how hurt Carmen must've been.

Elena became frustrated with herself, thinking how can she be so ignorant. But while doing so, she accidentally broke her hair tie.

Elena growled as she rummaged through her drawers to find another hair tie, but she couldn't find any.

"Lose something?"

Elena whirled around. Her eyes widened when she saw Carmen holding her spare hair ties in her hands.

"How did you get those?"

"Thieving school, remember?"

Elena blushed, "Oh, right."

Carmen picked out a red hair tie, smiling down at Elena as she motioned her to turn around.

"If you don't mind." She kindly said.

Elena nodded and turned her back to Carmen. She sat still as Carmen carefully ran her fingers through her hair, separating them into three parts before slowly braiding them.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I behaved harshly and told you to go away."

"I know you had your reasons..." Carmen said, "if your willing to tell me them."

Elena sighed, "I just... I just don't wanna go to school."

"Why not?"

"Because I won't fit in..."

"What makes you think that?" Carmen asked as she finished Elena's braid. She then turned her around so they could face each other.

Elena didn't say anything, though. She stared at the ground as if the tiles were providing her an answer.

"Elena?"

"What if they make fun of me for being an orphan?" Elena finally blurted.

Carmen stepped back in shock, "Now, hold on a second. What makes you think you're going to be bullied just because you're an orphan?"

"I don't know... It's just... I bet everyone at school has a family. Not an adoptive family... a real family. But I... I don't. My parents abandoned me when I was born!" Elena whimpered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey..." Carmen softly wiped away her tears with her sleeves, "If there's one thing I learned from my time saving the world, it's that family comes in many forms. A family doesn't always have to be something you're born into or blood relation. What makes a real family is love and empathy. And mom and I? We love you, Elena. We're your family, no matter what anyone else says. And don't worry about your parents. Personally, I think they were stupid to leave you like that."

Elena's bottom lip quivered. She fell into Carmen's arms, burying her face into her chest, and sobbed as Carmen held her against her skin.

"Thank you, Carmen."

"Carmen? No Isabel today?" Carmen teased.

"No... Carmen fits you better."

Carmen smiled as Elena pulled away from the hug.

"If it'll make you feel better, I'd be more than happy to take you to school myself."

"Really?" Elena beamed.

"I'm sure mom wouldn't mind."

***

Later that morning, Carmen and Elena were walking together towards the high school. They remained quiet during the entire walk until they stood at the school's front doors.

"This is it. You ready?" Carmen asked.

"Still a little nervous," Elena said, fiddling with the edges of her sweater.

"Don't worry, you're gonna make a lot of new friends. Trust me."

"Thanks again, Carmen."

A loud bell rang, signaling the start of the school day.

"I'll see you after school, okay?"

"Yeah... goodbye, Carmen," Elena waved.

She's going to be fine, Carmen assured herself as she watched Elena disappear into the building. She then walked away from the school grounds and onto the busy streets of Argentina.

Carmen sighed. Walking through her birthplace always made her wonder what type of life she would've lived if her father was alive and if her parents escaped VILE successfully. She wouldn't have become Carmen Sandiego, that was certain.

Carmen smiled as she turned a corner. She leaned her shoulder against a pole and waited for the crossing light to turn green.

In the meantime, Carmen watched the cars passing by. Soon, her gaze shifted to the other side of the street, where citizens busily walked to and fro.

Suddenly, Carmen spotted a figure dressed in blue from the corner of her eye, which caught her attention instantly. Usually she would've ignored it, but this figure was too familiar to ignore.

Carmen almost slapped herself.

Stop getting your hopes up! There's no way it's him, She told herself, It's just my imagination...

Carmen paused, biting her lip with uncertainty.

Maybe I should check... just to be sure...

Carmen slowly looked in the direction of the blue figure, her stomach twisting.

She wanted it to be him, but at the same time, she didn't. If the mysterious figure really was Gray, what would she say to him? The last time they encountered each other, Carmen nearly killed him. How could she dare show Gray her face after what she did?

But despite her mistakes, Carmen craved to see him. To see his smile, to hear his heartwarming laugh. She wanted to gaze into those chocolate brown eyes and let him know how much she missed him.

And she did miss him.

Over two years ago, Carmen was burdened with the news that Gray voluntarily decided to leave her life for good. He wasn't going to come back, and it still sent a stabbing pain in Carmen's heart to this day. She never got the chance to apologize for nearly killing him and for complicating his life when everything was going perfectly for him.

After hearing the news, Carmen knew she had to move on. After all, she had a long-lost mother she was desperate to reunite with. But after they reunited, Carmen longed to see Gray again. He was all she could ever think about.

She tried finding him, both on her own and with Player and ACME's help, but they came out empty-handed every time. Soon, after seven months of searching, Carmen eventually stopped looking for him. But that didn't mean she lost hope. She knew one day she'd see him again.

Carmen returned from her flashback. Her gaze finally rested on the figure.

It was him alright.

The Australian citizen, Graham Calloway, was in her sights. And she managed to find him without lifting a finger.

Tears of joy and pain stung her eyes as Gray walked farther and farther from her sights. The cars were now blocking her view as if preventing her from seeing him on purpose.

Carmen didn't know how she felt about seeing him, but she did know that she wasn't going to lose him again.

Before she could stop herself, she sprinted towards him, her vision blurry from her tears. She ignored the cars almost crashing into her and the people yelling at her. The only thing she could hear was her own frantic voice screaming.

"Gray!"

When he didn't hear her the first time, she cried out his name again. And again and again. Soon, it turned into a mantra.

Carmen had nearly crossed the road when she finally caught Gray's attention.

He turned around to see Carmen racing towards him, her eyes full of tears.

The world around him stopped for a split second and whirled back into action, "Carmen!"

Gray extended out his arms, allowing Carmen to crash into them. Gray nearly collapsed at the impact, but he quickly steadied himself and wrapped his arms around her trembling body. His grip on her tightened as Carmen sobbed into his chest, grabbing at his shirt and jacket.

"It's okay, Carmen, I'm here now," Gray whispered sweetly, running his fingers through her hair.

After minutes of holding each other, they finally pulled themselves together and stepped out of the hug.

Carmen tilted her head upwards. Her heart fluttered with warmth as her stormy gray eyes clashed with his brown ones. It's been forever since she last gazed into them.

"How have you been?" Both Carmen and Gray asked in sync. They stared at each other in shock before blushing out of embarrassment.

"You first," Gray said.

Carmen beamed, "I've been great. Everything has been coming together since VILE's defeat. We're still tracking down the remaining operatives, but it hasn't been easy. How about you? What have you been up to?"

The smile on Gray's face faded, which made Carmen uncomfortable.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Gray faked a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine," He lied, "I managed to get my job back thanks to Chief. In fact, I'm supposed to light an opera tomorrow evening at the Teatro Colon."

"The opera house in Buenos Aires," Carmen stated.

"Exactly." Gray winked.

"Do... Do you have to go back? Right now?" Carmen asked, her heart sinking to her toes.

He wouldn't really leave just as quickly as he came... would he?

Gray could read the distress on Carmen's face. He didn't want to leave her either, despite his wish to avoid complicating her life. After all, it was the reason they were apart all this time.

"I'm not going anywhere," He finally reassured, "I've missed you, Carmen. More than you know. And I'm not leaving you again so quickly."

Carmen gazed up at him. Her eyes furrowed, and her lip quivering.

Before Carmen knew it, she was back in Gray's arms. Holding him tighter than before.

"I've missed you, too, Gray." She whispered.

***

For hours, Carmen and Gray strolled through the streets of Buenos Aires, talking about everything they could come up with. From Carmen's new life with her mother to Gray's latest gig. But despite their ongoing conversations, neither Carmen nor Gray mentioned how much they missed each other's company. How these past hours filled a hole in their hearts, one that they never knew they had, especially on Gray's side.

He meant it when he told her he missed her. Because little did Carmen know about the countless nights Gray spent, tossing and turning in his bed, unable to get the scarlet thief out of his mind. Little did she know about the tears he shed every time he stopped by the same cafe they had their date. Little did she know, that for the past two years, he was broken.

He knew he chose to let her go. He tried to pretend it didn't hurt, but that only made him feel worse.

But now that Gray had Carmen by his side, he felt the pain subside and his heart slowly mending, piece by piece, all because of her. And she could easily do it with just a simple smile, touch, or a slight laugh. Carmen had no idea how much happiness she brought to him.

And as well as their yearning, Carmen and Gray never brought up what happened in Morrocco two years ago. Or Gray's decision to leave her, or even how Carmen nearly killed him on her last encounter.

Neither wanted to talk about it nor spoil the pleasant mood. But they knew that sooner or later, they would have to come clean.

***

3:00 p.m.

Carmen and Gray had to stop their time together short once Carmen remembered she had to pick up Elena from school.

"Gray," she began, interrupting their current conversation, "I want you to meet someone."

"Who?" Gray asked, raising a brow.

Carmen didn't answer. Instead, she took Gray's hand in hers and dragged him behind her, leading him towards the school.

Once they arrived, Carmen quickly began looking for Elena. She then spotted her on the other side of the courtyard, talking to another girl. She was about Elena's height and had long, copper-colored hair with deep ocean eyes.

"Elena!" Carmen called, walking up to her. Gray followed close behind.

Elena's eyes lit up once she saw Carmen. She waved goodbye to the girl and ran towards her sis'.

"Carmen!" Elena exclaimed, tackling Carmen into a hug.

"Hey, you," Carmen laughed, "I'm guessing your first day went well?"

"It went better than I imagined!" Elena stated, pulling away from the hug, "You were right, Carmen. Turns out people do like me, even though I'm an orphan. I guess I was just paranoid for no reason."

"Hey, it was your first time. Being nervous is completely normal, but I'm glad you've made friends."

Elena smiled brightly before shifting her gaze towards Gray.

"Sooo, who's your friend?"

"Elena, I want you to meet my old friend, Gray. Gray, meet my adopted sister, Elena."

"Nice to meet you, kiddo," Gray said.

Elena raised a brow in suspicion, "So you're the one who asked Carmen out to coffee... twice?"

Gray looked over at Carmen, "You told her about me?"

"I told her everything about my life. There isn't a single thing she doesn't know."

Gray sighed, "Well then, yes. I am the one who asked her."

"Cool," Elena said, "So are you here to ask her out again?"

Gray blushed, "Well, technically, I came here for business reasons. I wasn't planning on running into Carmen, but-"

Gray was interrupted when he heard his phone ringing. He pulled out his phone, a wave of panic imprinted on his face.

"Shoot! I need to head back to the opera house, pronto!"

Gray turned to head back but was halted when Carmen grasped his hand.

"Gray, wait!"

"What is it?" He asked.

Carmen nibbled on her bottom lip, "I know you have to go, but I don't want us to part ways again... not when we just reunited."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Well... since you don't have a gig tonight... would you like to have dinner together?" The words fumbled out of Carmen's mouth before she could stop herself.

Gray's eyes widened, "Like... at a restaurant?"

Carmen froze, "U-Uh.. no, at the orphanage." She then pulled out a pen and paper and quickly wrote down the address.

"Tonight, at 7:30. I'm sure my mother would love to meet you... if you wouldn't mind." She said, handing him the slip.

Gray smiled at her warmly, "I'll be there."

And with that, Carmen waved Gray goodbye until he was out of sight.

"Would you look at that! Your friend, Gray, is coming over for dinner. I can't wait to see how this plays out!" Elena said, smirking sinisterly.