To yellow 14: I love the mentor/mentee relationship between them!
To Butterfly: Emilie's transformation was so much fun to write!
To SerenaWhitman: I may have to play around a little more with how Fu and Emilie differ as Guardians in a future chapter. I can see them being almost like the "Mom and Dad" to the Heroes of Paris, with Fu as much stricter while Emilie is more of the nurturing and encouraging one – that's how I've portrayed them individually, but I haven't done it with them together. As of now the next Marinette chapter is 14 (originally it was 9, but that's how many extra chapters have gotten added), and that's the big one for them!
To StarDaPanda225: I actually had an idea for a chapter with Emilie going on patrol yesterday, though it wasn't with Adrien. La Paonne, Impératrice Pourpre, Pegasus, and Goosilla aren't in their regular patrol rotation; they serve more as backup in case something happens to those on patrol. But that doesn't mean they never go out. I may need to write one with Adrien…
As the portal generator in the Heroes' Headquarters whirred to life, Emilie found herself thinking about how different her life now was than everything she had known about the miraculous before her trip to Tibet. Her Grimoire included pictures of all the other miraculous in the Asian set, but she had thought that hers were the only two miraculous still in existence, that the rest of the Asian set had been lost forever in the destruction of their temple. And then on her trip to Australia she had discovered just how many other miraculous were out there, scattered all around the world. And that trip had only been possible because of the Horse Miraculous. She had studied the pictures in the Grimoire showing Voyage in action, but had never dreamed that she might have the opportunity to experience it. Or, for that matter, that someone would create a technological version of the Horse Miraculous' Voyage ability.
If she had ever doubted that Adrien and his friends knew what they were doing in guarding the miraculous, this right here put her mind at ease.
Of course, were it not for the portal, Emilie might never have traveled again, definitely not to Australia and probably not even to return to England – certainly not through the Chunnel. While she had no memories of her four years in a coma, her subconscious still plagued her with nightly dreams involving enclosed tubes. More often than she cared to admit, she woke up from one such dream in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, Duusu curled up on her chest with his tail feathers fanned in a soothing gesture. All told, the ability to take a portal to England was something else she had to thank Ammie for.
The portal opened, and Emilie looked into an unused back sitting room of the house where she and Amelie had grown up, where Amelie and Felix now lived. And standing right in front of the portal with her hands clasped in front of herself was Amelie. It didn't take miraculous empathy for Emilie to recognize the wide range of emotions warring behind her twin's eyes.
Emilie stepped hesitantly through the portal – strangely it felt no different from stepping across a door's lintel – and threw her arms around Amelie's neck as the portal closed. Amelie held her tightly and burst into tears, burying her face in Emilie's shoulder. Emilie herself couldn't hold back her own tears on feeling the raw grief and relief and joy pouring off of Amelie in waves. A chaise sat against the far wall, and Emilie carefully guided them in that direction to sit down. She ran her fingers soothingly through Amelie's hair while Amelie continued to sob into her shoulder.
After what felt like hours, Amelie sat up and wiped away her tears and smudged mascara on the back of a kerchief before carefully pouring two cups of tea. Emilie withdrew her own cloth to do the same, thankful she had thought ahead enough to use run-proof makeup that morning. Duusu flew out of Emilie's purse and helped himself to a mini scone. Amelie gave the Kwami a small smile and pat on the head in greeting. Duusu preened happily at the attention.
Emilie stared into the depths of her teacup for a minute before whispering, "I'm sorry."
The sudden jolt of surprise brought her eyes up to meet Amelie's. "What do you have to be sorry about, Emmie?"
Emilie frowned sadly. "What don't I have to be sorry for?" she asked rhetorically. "I disappeared on you. Gabriel evidently cut you out of his and Adrien's lives. Then I wake up and find out you lost me and Robert in less than a year."
Amelie's lower lip trembled. Emilie could feel the buried grief, hiding where she had refused to acknowledge it, bubbling back to the surface. "We knew it was coming," she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper, the teacup shaking in her hands. "But we didn't know it would happen so soon. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry."
Emilie put her hand on Amelie's and squeezed gently. "I'm so sorry. I could tell something was going on. I should have been here with you when it happened," she told her, feeling the tears in her eyes. "Instead, I just added to your grief. Nothing in Tibet was worth the cost."
Amelie nodded curtly, her eyes clenching shut tightly. She took several slow, calming breaths, and Emilie could feel her pushing that old grief to the side. After a minute she opened her eyes and gave Emilie a weak smile. "Thank you. I'm just glad to have you back finally."
"I would have come to visit sooner, but… I–I was ashamed," Emilie admitted, looking away.
"Ashamed?"
Emilie sighed. "Adrien told me he explained some of the family history to you and Felix before they healed me."
Amelie nodded, pursing her lips. "I admit I was upset that you had hid something this important from me."
"Momma said there could only be one Guardian," explained Emilie, her voice trembling. "Both of us couldn't be guardians, so it had to just be me–"
"I know, I know, 'Twelve minutes,'" interrupted Amelie, rolling her eyes.
"The best twelve minutes of my life," Emilie teased.
Amelie grinned mischievously. "Don't you mean the 'worst'?"
Emilie leaned over and rested her head on Amelie's shoulder. "Probably," she admitted seriously. Amelie's emotions betrayed surprise at that. Emilie was silent for a minute before she continued. "Momma said I had to be the next Guardian, but I should have pushed back anyways. It was a mistake for only me and Momma and Poppa to know about the miraculous. Especially after they–after–" Her voice broke. "After we lost them… I should have been the one to tell you myself. If I had – if you had known everything – maybe you could have stopped Gabriel from doing what he did. Maybe then Adrien wouldn't have had to be the one to do it. In a way, all of this – Hawk Moth – it's my fault."
Amelie wrapped her arms around Emilie and ran her fingers through her hair. "I forgive you," she whispered soothingly. "I'm not about to hold the past against you when I only just got you back."
Emilie sighed and hugged Amelie back tightly. "Thank you," she murmured, sniffling. She sat back and looked her in the eye. "I do want to correct that mistake now, though," she told her. "If you are willing, I want you involved in guarding the miraculous with me moving forward." She nodded to the portal. "Thank you for putting that in – I don't want to go this long between visits ever again!"
"Your kids made it surprisingly affordable," Amelie joked, a twinkle in her eye. "Although I'm disappointed they won't let us just use it all the time to visit Paris!"
"That could get suspicious," Emilie noted wryly. "Though you have a standing invitation to come over for tea – and we can't use distance as an excuse for not seeing each other all the time anymore!" She smiled kindly. "I'm glad Marinette gave Felix a miraculous, and that Adrien has one – even if they're not the ones our family guarded for 170 years!"
"Barkk is quite the affectionate little thing," Amelie observed with a chuckle. "I'll miss her when Felix returns to school next week."
"I'm so glad Barkk has a new holder!" gushed Duusu, clapping his paws in happiness. "She was so bored staying in the Miracle Box all the time!"
"So are you here to give me a miraculous?" teased Amelie, an amused lilt to her voice.
Emilie arched an eyebrow. "Do you want one?"
Amelie sat back in surprise. "It's tempting," she admitted. "I do worry about Felix every time he leaves by himself. But I've watched your kids from afar for three years, and I've seen Felix running off nightly to do the same – he's facing nothing on the same level as Paris, at least – and I don't think I really want to be out running around on rooftops with them."
Emilie smiled. "We can leave the superheroics to the kids," she agreed. "But Guardians don't need to hold miraculous themselves; ordinarily a Guardian would just distribute the miraculous and guide their holders, instead of using the miraculous themselves. Master Fu and I are going to start rebuilding the Asian Order of the Guardians, but we need more than just the two of us. Would you be interested in joining us – in joining me – as a Guardian of the Miraculous?"
Amelie's eyes widened. "I will have to think about that," she finally answered hesitantly.
Emilie nodded. "Take all the time you need." She pulled a well-worn leather-bound journal out of her purse. "In the meantime, this was Nana Beth's diary," she explained. "She was the original Guardian in our family, and she wrote down all of her experiences in Tibet in this book – how she found the temple, how she trained to become a Guardian, how she escaped its destruction, and how she vowed to protect the Peacock and Butterfly and use them to help others."
Amelie stared at the book wide-eyed and carefully accepted it, running a hand along the cover reverently. "So this is our real family legacy?" she asked in amazement.
Emilie nodded. "If you would like, I also have Pépé's memoir of his time helping the Maquis during World War II." She laughed. "Perhaps some time Barkk can tell us about her own World War II experiences – she also had a holder who fought in the War, but he was on the front lines. About a year before my accident I finally scanned everything I have of our family legacy, so I can give you the whole history digitally. This is our legacy – both the highs and the lows."
Amelie gently opened the journal and flipped through the yellowed pages, holding it a little away from herself to keep her tears from falling on the book. Emilie smiled in contentment at feeling the gratitude pouring from her sister. Carefully she removed the peacock fan brooch from the front of her blouse. At the movement Amelie looked up from the first page of the diary, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Duusu and I talked about it last night," Emilie explained, holding the miraculous out to her, "and we agreed that you deserve a chance to really visit with him and find out more of the story from him directly – his stories about Mémé are absolutely amazing! At some point I may have to persuade my little protégé to give you the same opportunity with Nooroo, but for now…"
"I… I don't know what to say, Emmie," whispered Amelie, taking the brooch and pinning it to the front of her tea dress and let out an involuntary gasp – Emilie could sympathize: empathy could be overwhelming at first. Duusu flew up to nuzzle Amelie's cheek, and she cupped her hand around the Kwami. The look she gave Emilie was one of pure gratitude.
Emilie grinned impishly. "You could try, 'Thank you, most amazing sister in the world. I promise to return your miraculous in a week or so!'"
AN: This is a good place to pause "The Woman out of the Fridge" for the next multi-chapter story, "The Hound and the Maiden," in which Amelie starts out with the Peacock Miraculous! Emilie will make a cameo appearance in that story.