The following morning, Adrien woke up with his back against the sheets and a pleasant feeling coursing through his body. Lingering in blissful half-awakeness, he guarded a remnant of his last dream behind his eyelids: an image of Val's face above him, an enchanting gaze, a bright smile. Adrien allowed himself to float in this reverie for a while; he cherished this vision - but when waking consciousness came to dispel it, he did not cling to it with all his might, as he would have done only a few days before. He no longer needed to beg for one more glimpse of a fading picture - for that picture would soon appear to his open eyes again, in light brighter than any dream.