AN: If you've been waiting since "Tibet" to find out who would give Master Fu a telling-off… there was another surviving member of the Asian Order of the Guardians!

To yellow 14: The ability to sense emotions is hugely beneficial, but it does come with a cost since they can't read the thoughts behind the emotion!

To Butterfly: Even after a year, there's still a lot that Emilie can teach Sabrina about her miraculous. After all, Hawk Moth never really unlocked its true potential for good.

"Let me get this straight: you gave my son the Miraculous of Destruction at the ripe old age of fourteen, and then proceeded to practically ignore him for two years!?" Emilie stared at the small elderly man in front of her in utter disbelief.

"I was watching both him and Marinette from a distance while they adapted to their miraculous' powers," Master Fu defended. He refilled his own teacup and offered more to her, which she grudgingly accepted. Fu had invited her to visit him in the room where he was staying in the Mansion, which was furnished rather spartanly, with two simple twin beds, two wooden chairs, and an old wooden side table holding his tea set.

Emilie shook her head. "You didn't think they could use guidance? Training? Advice? I chose my miraculous at that age also, but my mother took some time every day to teach me about the miraculous and their capabilities!" She scoffed. "You know, if things had turned out differently, Adrien would have received a miraculous at that age," she told him. "But he would not have been so woefully unprepared for the responsibility it presented!"

"If things had turned out differently," Fu pointed out, "Adrien would not have been called into battle against a villain who was using the Butterfly Miraculous for evil."

Emilie scowled darkly, and Duusu let out a shuddering gasp and shot away, phasing straight through the floor and rocketing off in the direction of the Heroes' Headquarters. "I would never have imagined that Gabriel would do what he did with the miraculous in my care," she seethed, anger flashing in her eyes. "If I had it to do over again, perhaps I would have told Adrien much sooner. Perhaps I would have given the Butterfly to Amelie instead of keeping it in a box in my closet. Perhaps I would have at least left instructions for Ammie in case something happened to me. So yes, I can admit that I bear some blame for Gabriel's actions." She paused a moment and fixed him with a withering glare. "But don't try to tell me that leaving my son in the dark to fumble around with one of the most powerful miraculous in existence was the way the old Order of the Guardians operated," she added, pointing a finger at him accusingly. "The Dupain-Chengs may have accepted that explanation, but I know better!"

Fu let out a resigned sigh, his emotions turning to shame. "You are correct," he admitted. "The old Order of the Guardians would not have acted the way I did. In the old days a guardian would have taken the newly-chosen holder under his wings from the beginning to teach him or her how to use the miraculous if it was to be given long-term. In the past I did act in that way. However, this time I did not believe I could take that risk: I did not know who Hawk Moth was, and I could not risk more miraculous falling into the wrong hands. Believing myself to be the only surviving Guardian from our Order, I could not allow myself to become compromised by someone who knew about and was even then misusing a miraculous which had been lost from our set."

Emilie sighed, nodding in acceptance. "I suppose if that had happened, the same thing could have happened with your miraculous as happened with mine," she allowed. "Though Nana Beth mentioned the procedure in her journal, she herself never used it. None of my ancestors really faced this kind of situation: with only two miraculous at their disposal, they exclusively reserved them for family members to hold and used them to help people from the shadows."

Fu nodded. "And from what I gather, they did an admirable job with what they had. By all accounts your grandfather served honorably during World War II," he acknowledged, raising his teacup in acknowledgement. "According to Nooroo, the Maquis may not have won some crucial victories in the buildup to D-Day had he not provided them with his support."

She shook her head in amazement. "I still cannot believe that you were so close to him but did not cross paths."

"I fled to England as soon as the Nazis reached Paris," Fu explained. "I had heard from my contacts in Germany that Hitler was interested in arcane magical artifacts – I could only assume that meant they were after me and the Miracle Box. Marianne stayed here to fight, but I had to protect the Box. I only deemed it safe to return to France after the Nazis were officially defeated. By then I understand your grandfather had ceased his more overt activities and returned to hiding."

Emilie nodded and pursed her lips. "Perhaps that is another time things could have turned out differently, had your Fox and the Hound met Le Maquillon or any of his helpers after D-Day."

"Perhaps."

Emilie sat back and sipped her now-lukewarm tea while examining Fu. Based on his story and the legend her mother had told her, as well as Nana Beth's writings, Fu himself was the novice who rescued Nana Beth in the snow, so many years ago. To think that after all this time she would meet another Guardian – a remnant of the original Order of the Guardians she had read about in Nana Beth's journal, no less. And therein lay the problem. "We can't ignore the issue forever," she finally stated, and he nodded reluctantly. "Where do we go from here?"

"I do not think we should separate the Butterfly and Peacock from their set again," Fu began, eyeing her carefully.

Emilie nodded slowly. "Both Nooroo and Duusu are happy to be back with their brothers and sisters," she agreed. "Nooroo seems especially content with his new holder." She allowed herself a small smile: to think that little Sabrina, the girl she only remembered as Chloe's meek shadow, would take to the Butterfly Miraculous with such aplomb! "And yet," she added, "this responsibility has been a great part of my life – of my family, really – for almost two centuries. It is a legacy that I had hoped to pass on to Adrien when he was of age."

"I had begun training Marinette as my replacement Guardian before Hawk Moth's defeat," Fu replied.

"Not both of them together?" Emilie frowned. "The Grimoire seems very clear: the Cat and Ladybug operate best when they are together and their holders are in sync, without placing artificial barriers between them. And in any event is it really wise to put so much on one teenager? There were times I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of two miraculous, let alone the nineteen in the full set, to say nothing of the additional miraculous they have acquired recently!" She nodded to the burnt-orange Narwhal Kwami, Kheaa, who was resting on the shelf above Fu's bed. "And I was in University before my mother fully relinquished the responsibility to me!"

Fu furrowed his brow in thought. "Perhaps it is time to return to something closer to what was lost," he admitted. "More guardians would spread the responsibility – something which I think Marinette and Adrien have already done by bringing more of their team into the fold and sharing the load with them."

"How have they managed since Gabriel's defeat?"

"I was away for much of the year researching your condition–"

"–For which I am very grateful," Emilie interrupted, giving him a small smile.

Fu dipped his head in acknowledgement and gave her a smile in return. "After everything Adrien went through, this was the least I could do as repayment. And while I was away, by all accounts they performed admirably, both as holders and as guardians-in-training."

"Then I think the best thing we can do for them is to allow them to continue as they have, and to stay out of their way but remain available to give them advice when needed," Emilie suggested.

"I believe that is a wise compromise," Fu agreed readily. Emilie sensed relief from him which shifted into cautious hope. "Now that we have more of a permanent residence here, as well as the full set together – minus the Bee – perhaps together the two of us may begin to rebuild the Asian Order of the Guardians – though it may take several generations before the Order returns to what it once was. It was very generous of your son to give over so much of your Mansion to the Heroes of Paris."

Emilie gave a small smile and breathed a sigh of relief. "It doesn't surprise me in the least," she replied. "Adrien has always been kindhearted and generous to a fault, and from what I can tell this year has just given him more and more opportunities to put that in practice." She frowned. "I only wish it hadn't come at the cost of four years of his childhood."

Fu nodded sadly, tears in his eyes as he met her gaze. Emilie could feel guilt and grief building in him. "I hope you will believe me when I say that I truly did not wish to foist such an awesome responsibility on either Adrien or Marinette at such a young age."

Emilie smiled and nodded in acceptance. She chuckled. "And yet, here we are: my son went from barely-a-teen to engaged, running the family company, and a Miraculous Guardian in the space of about fifteen minutes!"

AN: For those keeping score at home, this does mean there were at least a dozen Miraculous users active during World War II – all of them (so far) on the Allies' side… except for Night Bat, who was manipulating the Nazis behind the scenes. Fu's Fox and Hound (Fox and Dog respectively), Emilie's grandfather Le Maquillon (Butterfly), and Mira's grandmother Columba (Dove) were all involved in different ways on the European Front. And a group of American Miraculous Heroes joined the Allies on the Pacific Front.

Why did Fu choose the Fox and Dog to fight in World War II instead of the Ladybug and Cat? Partly because of what they could do. Partly because he's not going to hand out the two most powerful miraculous in existence without a really good reason! So what does it say that he would consider Hawk Moth a greater threat than Hitler?

I'm going to hold off on continuing "The Woman Out of the Fridge" for now. The next logical chapter is one I haven't written yet (I only got the idea yesterday), and Fu and Emilie agreeing to rebuild the Order of the Guardians together is a good lead-in to where Emilie is in "It Came from Outer Space." Tomorrow I'll publish another "Life and Times" one-shot, then "Outer Space" will start on Monday! We'll return to "Fridge" in about 2 weeks.