Chapter Text
Adrien had insisted on Emilie getting a checkup at the local hospital, unsure of how several years in a coma might have affected her body. Still in a daze, Emilie agreed and allowed her son to lead her to the hospital. When she heard the news, Chloé insisted on paying for a private doctor so that “Tante Emilie” would be seen even faster. Given the circumstances, Marinette couldn’t blame her for being worried.
By some miracle (perhaps that was more literal than it might seem, Marinette thought to herself), Emilie hadn’t been affected by the years she spent living in Gabriel’s basement - holy shit, that still sounded insane - and she was healthy, if a little shaky on her feet.
“Where… where’s my husband?” she asked. “He should be here.”
The entire room froze up. Nobody was eager to drop the news, but in the end, it was Adrien who spoke up. “Maman… he’s dead.”
Emilie’s pallid condition only worsened. “… what?”
“He died a few days ago,” explained Marinette, “from overusing the damaged Peacock Miraculous.”
Emilie gasped, glancing between Adrien, Marinette and Chloé. “You know about the Miraculouses…?!”
“Father is to blame for that,” replied Adrien, trying not to be bitter or break. “When he positioned himself as a terrorist, the previous Guardian was forced to bring out several Miraculouses to help fight him.”
Frowning, Emilie scrunched up the fabric of her hospital gown. Taking a deep breath to prepare, she begged, “I want you to tell me everything. Spare no detail for my sake. I need to know the crimes committed by the man I l… I chose to love.”
Marinette glanced over to Adrien, giving his hand a squeeze. Looking back to Marinette, Adrien nodded.
And they told Emilie everything they knew.
Adrien told her how Gabriel became more controlling as time passed. How he lied to Adrien about Emilie’s fate for years. How Gabriel began to lose control more and more, how he would rampage through their home, destroying anything he could get his hands on. As he described it, his voice cracked and Chloé rested her head on his shoulder, trying to give her self-proclaimed brother at least a little comfort.
Once Adrien was finished describing the more personal side of Gabriel’s madness, Marinette stepped in to tell Emilie more about the Miraculous side of things.
By the time she had finished recounting their years-long fight against Shadow Moth, Emilie was close to tears. “I had no idea he would do such a thing… Gabriel had always been… obsessive, but I never thought… I never thought he’d take it this far.”
“Obsessive?” Marinette echoed.
“We were introduced to each other by a friend, back when Gabriel was just beginning to rise, and one of the first things he said to me was that I was too beautiful to be single. I thought it was romantic, but looking back… we didn’t know each other at all. He’d been coming on very strong. I should have realized someone as obsessive as Gabriel would use the means he had for these… horrifying measures. I should have known better than to trust him…” A sob fled her throat. “I can’t apologize enough for any of this!”
“Mme. Ag- Graham de Vanily… none of this was your fault. You might have been complicit in his obsession before your death, but I know in my heart that you would have stopped him if you had been able to.”
“Gabriel was a manipulator,” said Chloé, fidgeting with her sleeve. “He manipulated me into allowing myself to be akumatized in Miracle Queen a few years ago. I hurt a lot of people that day. Still, Marinette and Adrien… they gave me a second chance. It was more than I deserved. I’m so thankful that they did, though, because it gave me a chance to do better.”
Wiping back tears, Chloé continued. “That’s the thing about making mistakes, isn’t it? You can always learn from them. You can always work on doing better. On being better.”
“I’m so glad my son has such a caring girlfriend,” Emilie said, taking Chloé’s hands in hers.
Chloé immediately scrunched up her face in disgust. “Gonna stop you right there, Tante. I’m not dating Adrien. He’s way more like my annoying little brother than my boyfriend. Also, I’m gay.”
“Oh… my apologies,” said Emilie, glancing over at Marinette. “And you?”
“Dating my girlfriend for four years now,” Marinette replied. “But I think you’re gonna love Adrien’s boyfriend. He’s a musician, and he really loves Adrien.”
“Oh… how nice.” At the looks of confusion from all others present, Emilie cringed. “It’s nothing against this boy, or even musicians.”
Sighing, she explained how during her and Gabriel’s courting days, a hotshot musician had, not knowing Emilie was accounted for, flirted with her. Gabriel had sent him to the hospital with a bloody nose, and it would’ve been more if Emilie hadn’t begged him to leave the poor fellow be.
“Ever since, he’s never hired musicians. He’d sooner play music himself for people at parties than let that happen. He was a skilled violinist, but… it was never the same.”
“Wow… Gabriel was an asshole,” Chloé mumbled, making Adrien smirk a little. “Sorry, but he was just being controlling. You didn’t deserve to deal with that, Tante.”
Emilie was quiet for a moment, before turning to Adrien, a fiery look in her eyes. “Tell me more about this musician of yours. I’d like to get to know my future son-in-law.”
Blushing bright red, Adrien began to tell his mother more about Nino. Marinette and Chloé listened fondly.
A few days into Emilie’s stay at the hospital, Adrien was finally able to convince Nathalie to come with him to visit his mother. Nathalie had been resistant, at first, but when she heard that Emilie had been asking for her, she hesitantly agreed.
“I swear, I never knew, Emilie,” Nathalie stressed by way of greeting.
Emilie frowned, furrowing her brows. “Pardon?”
“I never knew that Gabriel was Shadow Moth. I only found out when Adrien told the rest of Paris. I am so, so sorry I didn’t realize.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Emilie replied.
Nathalie shook her head. “No. I was blind to what was right in front of me. I allowed Gabriel to mistreat Adrien for years, both as himself and Shadow Moth. It was truly foolish of me, and I know you can never forgive me.”
“Nathalie…” Emilie’s voice went unexpectedly soft. “I know you made mistakes; so did I. That doesn’t make you undeserving of forgiveness any more that I am undeserving of it.”
“Then why do I feel so guilty?” Nathalie whispered.
“It’s only natural, I suppose…” Emilie mused. “If it means anything, I forgive you.”
“I- thank you.”
Later, Marinette would theorize that the Guardian Wish had placed a special type of chains on Emilie and Nathalie. While they hadn’t been complicit in Shadow Moth’s wrongdoings, they had been for Gabriel Agreste’s, even if they hadn’t known the true extent of what was happening.
Therefore, the chains placed upon them were not binding and could only be broken when they chose to put trust in each other.
Only then, would they be truly freed.
It took a while for Emilie to be discharged, and it was a while longer before authorities could officially clear her of any association with Shadow Moth.
The fact that she had been in a coma for most of his time as a villain definitely helped clear her name. Ever protective of his mother, especially after he’d only just found her again, Adrien had insisted that Emilie move back into the Agreste Manor with him, Nino, Paul and Wasi. Igor, the Gorilla - who had proven himself a trustworthy man - was given further employment as the Manor’s head of security and Nathalie took on most of the responsibilities of running Gabriel’s company for Emilie.
While the exact legal specifics of their case were tricky to traverse, since Emilie had technically been dead for some time, Gabriel’s company was slated to be passed onto his next of kin, which would be either her or Adrien, depending on how the courts ruled things.
For now, Nathalie was taking care of things for them both.
After giving Emilie a few days to settle in, Marinette asked if she wanted to see Nolan and Dulcie (those were the new names Nooroo and Duusu chose for themselves).
Though hesitant, Emilie agreed.
The next morning, Marinette brought Nolan and Dulcie to Agreste Manor. Wasi and Paul greeted their friends enthusiastically before being shooed away by their Papa and Baba.
Nolan seemed a little nervous to be back at the Agreste Manor, but a comforting hand on his shoulder from Dulcie was enough to reassure him.
When Emilie approached, however, Dulcie was the one to hide behind her brother.
“M-Miss Emilie…” Nolan mumbled. “Please, don’t be mad.”
“I’m not upset with either of you,” Emilie said softly. “Dulcie, I know I misused your Miraculous and I’m truly sorry for how I treated you. I’m also disgusted by my ex-husband’s treatment of you both; it is my greatest regret that I let things get as bad as they did.”
“I-If you do anything bad, I’ll summon a sentibeing to protect us,” Dulcie threatened. “A big, scary one!”
“If I harm you in any way, you have my full permission to do exactly that,” Emilie replied.
Both Nolan and Dulcie relaxed a little after that, and they had a great time playing with Paul and Wasi. By the time it was evening, Nolan and Dulcie didn’t want to leave the repurposed Graham de Vanily Manor.
“I was going to offer to let you stay with me, but if you’d rather stay with Emilie and Adrien…”
“Please?” Nolan begged, turning on the puppy-dog eyes.
Dulcie agreed with her brother. “Miss Emilie said she wouldn’t do anything bad, and Adrien’s here to protect us. Paul and Wasi, too!”
Marinette merely smiled fondly. “If that’s what you want, then I’m content with that.”
The twins (were all the kwamis technically twins? That was a strange thought…) cheered, and Marinette helped Nathalie, Emilie and Adrien sign the paperwork giving them custody.
Hopefully, Nolan and Dulcie would be able to trust Emilie more once they got to know her better.
By the time Marinette returned home, she was so sleepy that she could hardly put one foot in front of the other. At least Nolan and Dulcie seemed happy with Emilie and Nathalie.
Her time as the Guardian, her responsibilities as a Miraculous wielder, were officially over…
That was oddly satisfying, as if her journey had come full-circle.
“I’m home!” she called up the stairs, taking off her coat at the door.
Tristan and Tina clattered down the stairs, both immediately going to hug Marinette’s legs. “Maman!” chirped Tina. “We missed you!”
“Were you two good for Mamá?” asked Marinette, ruffling Tina’s hair. When Tristan pouted, she patted him on the head too.
“We were really good!” Tristan insisted. “I helped Mamá with the laundry and Tina helped do the dishes.”
“I only dropped one!” Tina announced, clearly very proud of the achievement.
“That’s great, sweetie.” Marinette glanced over at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was starting to get late. “I think it’s about time for you two to be heading to bed.”
“Awwww, but I’m not tired!” Tristan protested.
“If you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you’ll be grumpy tomorrow morning,” Marinette reasoned.
Tristan eventually relented - but only on one condition. “You and Mamá have to sleep with us!”
“Works for me,” replied Marinette, picking up Tina. Grinning, Tristan draped himself over Marinette’s shoulders, clinging to the fabric of her shirt. “I’ve been wanting to spend some more time with you two, anyway.”
Dragging Alya out of the guest bedroom - which her girlfriend had long since commandeered to work on the final updates for the Ladyblog now that Paris’ heroes were officially retired - Marinette gathered her family in her childhood bedroom.
Marinette’s bed was a single, so it was a bit of a squeeze for four people, even if two of them were kids. She and Alya ended up pressed against the edges of the bed, with Tina and Tristan cuddled up between them.
For someone so energetic, Tristan was out like a light once he was cuddling with his moms and sister. Alya followed suit not long after, probably worn out from all the work she had done that day. That left just Marinette and Tina as the only ones awake.
Tina’s voice was a tiny whisper as she said, “Maman?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I’m happy that I get to be your daughter,” Tina said softly. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Tina-” Marinette scooched over and kissed her forehead. “- more than you could possibly know.”
As Tina dozed off in her mother’s arms, Marinette couldn’t believe how lucky she was.
Maybe a little bit of Tina’s magic had rubbed off on her over the years…