AN: This chapter is pretty much the reason I wanted to write this anthology series in the first place. That this expanded so much with more of Adrien, Chloe, Sabrina, Guardianship… it's pretty cool how much it has connected!
To Butterfly: That's actually one of the reasons I've been publishing the one-shots between. Partly it's a way to expand the universe a little. Partly it's a way to take a breath after almost blowing up London!
To saberstorm: Pretty much; I've been thinking of it more like "venture capitalist." Give Nino the funds for some high-end DJ equipment and help him make connections, fund Nath and Marc's comic books so they can expand distribution, underwrite Kitty Section's first few recordings…
To yellow 14: Sometimes something nice and relaxing is just what we need!
The next day, Emilie smiled in anticipation as she set out tea and cookies on her tea table, though the butterflies in her stomach made it impossible to truly relax. She missed Duusu's constant presence. Duusu would have been fluttering around the room, chattering excitedly one moment and panicking the next – at first his tendency to do so had caught Emilie off-guard, until she realized that, intentionally or not, he was a barometer for her own emotions, giving them external life and allowing her to process them better. But Duusu was not with her. Sabrina had stopped by the previous day and they had traded miraculous so Sabrina could become better acquainted with Duusu and the Peacock Miraculous for the week. And that morning Emilie had hopped through the portal for breakfast with Amelie – and to check up on Felix since he was home for the weekend. When she'd left, she'd left Nooroo behind so Amelie could get to know him.
Emilie crossed to the door as Marinette came into her empathic range. It had been a bit of a shock when she discovered that some of her empathic senses had remained, even after lending Duusu to Amelie. She'd asked Duusu about it, and the Kwami had flitted around excitedly while explaining that some things wear off on his holders after 20 years together. Her range didn't extend much beyond the same room – fifteen to twenty meters from her at most – and she couldn't pick up the same nuances, but it was still there. She could feel the anxiety and nervousness pouring off of Marinette as she pulled the door open to find Marinette's hand poised to knock. Marinette looked up at her wide-eyed, Tikki's head just visible sticking out of one of her pigtails. Emilie put her hands on the girl's shoulders and pulled her in for a quick hug, giving her a peck on both cheeks. "Come in, dear! Thank you so much for joining me! Please, have a seat."
"Thank you, Mme Agreste," Marinette managed, dropping awkwardly into the settee across from Emilie's accustomed armchair and sitting stiffly. Tikki dove for the plate of cookies and dug in with gusto.
"None of this 'Mme Agreste' business between us, dear," Emilie insisted, waving a hand dismissively. "After all, in less than a year that will get confusing! If 'Mom' or 'Mother' isn't comfortable yet, 'Emilie' is fine." She relaxed into her chair and poured two cups of tea. Handing one to Marinette she took in the black shirt with "Purr-incess" across the front in green lettering that she had obviously designed herself. "As a mother, I have been quite gratified to see that Adrien indeed treats you like his 'Princess,'" she observed, nodding to her chest.
"Adrien has always been a perfect gentleman," Marinette assured her, blushing delicately.
Emilie chuckled. "I doubt he's perfect, dear," she replied, smiling mischievously. "If he was, he wouldn't need you! After all, I find that in any relationship – and especially romantic ones – both parties bring something to the table, and neither one is truly complete without the other."
Marinette hummed softly and smiled into her teacup, her cheeks a light pink. They sipped their tea quietly for a few minutes before Emilie cleared her throat. Marinette's emotions instantly became taut.
Emilie sighed in disappointment and looked down to see Tikki giving her a sympathetic smile. She'd been hoping to put the girl at ease, but this always seemed to happen to them. "The reason I invited you here is to give you a proper apology," she began, her lips turning down in worry. Marinette looked up at her in confusion and surprise. "It seems as though every time we are in the same room together, we get off on the wrong foot, and that is the very opposite of how I wanted my relationship with my future daughter-in-law to start."
"I'm sorry?"
"I always hoped that my miraculous – specifically the ability it gives me to read other people's emotions – would help me connect with any girl in Adrien's life, far better than Gabriel's mother ever tried to connect with me," she explained. "She was a proper lady, but always a bit distant and aloof, at least toward me." She chuckled. "I think she was worried I saw Gabriel as a 'project': a rising star in the world of fashion that I could 'patronize' for fun. I thought knowing a girl's emotions would help me cut through that: if you were interested in Adrien purely for his name, or his money, or his reputation, your emotions would reflect that." She shook her head ruefully and held up a hand as Marinette's emotions shifted to anger. "No, you don't have to worry that I suspect you of that, dear," she assured her. "I know your feelings for him are genuine. After so long, I know the difference between simple infatuation and a mature love based on mutual respect, and the feelings you have for each other are far more mature than I would have expected either of you to feel at such a young age. A mother couldn't ask for a better woman to marry her son. And yet, every time we are together, it's like we just aren't able to connect. I sense a lot of anxiety, fear, and nervousness."
Marinette paled, her lower lip trembling and her eyes wide. "I'm sorry! I–"
"Marinette," Emilie interrupted her gently, holding up a hand. "Honey, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to apologize for. Never apologize for your emotions. Your emotions are a part of you, and you can feel however you feel because that is who you are. I don't want you to stop feeling anxious around me – well I do, but not because you're worried that I can sense your emotions! If you stop feeling anxious because of me, I want it to be because I'm not making you feel anxious. I want to do what I can to put you at ease. You are important to my son, and I appreciate so much the love and support and care you give him."
Marinette looked at her wide-eyed. "You mean you're not upset?"
"That you are anxious around me?" Emilie asked calmly. "Of course not! I want to find out why so I can try to make it better and we can have a good relationship, but I understand if you don't trust me enough for that level of honesty yet."
"Not about that," Marinette clarified, swallowing hard. "I mean, you're not upset that Adrien and I are suddenly engaged when you'd never even met me before?"
Emilie nodded slowly, her eyes widening in recognition. Suddenly everything made sense. "It was a shock to find out my son was engaged to a woman I'd never met before, but I'm certainly not upset," she told her, speaking calmly and smiling warmly to set her at ease. "Sensing as I do the level of love and affection between you two, I would be a horrible person to be upset that you found each other, or that you are getting married, regardless of your age! To wake up and find that Adrien has matured and grown into such a wonderful, strong young man was more than I could ever have hoped for. And to find that he had met and fallen in love with an incredible young woman who cares about him as a person and helps him to be the best possible version of himself? Any mother would be overjoyed by just one of those circumstances, let alone both!"
"I've just been so worried that you would be upset with me, that you wouldn't like me," Marinette whispered, clutching her teacup tightly. Tikki flew up to her and patted her cheek, whispering something into her ear. Marinette smiled, and Emilie felt her emotional tension ease a little more.
Emilie refilled her own cup and offered some to Marinette. She frowned. "I have been feeling rather unsure of my place in this strange new world," she admitted. "Before the accident, I knew who I was and how I fit in. I was the one in charge of the house, I was the wife, and I was the mother. Suddenly none of that is really true anymore. You have taken over so much of the running of the household–"
"What?" yelped Marinette in surprise, almost spilling her tea. "I couldn't do that! I mean, it's not even my house…"
Emilie snorted. "It's become more your house than mine in the last year – and that's not intended as a disparagement or a slight at all; the opposite, in fact. I've heard enough stories of what this house looked like under Gabriel for three years, and I shudder to think what I would have woken up to had Adrien been left to his own devices for the last year! With you in charge – regardless of whether you think you were or not – this house is both comfortable enough for friends and guests to hang out and refined enough to host a formal dinner."
Marinette giggled. "Okay, if I hadn't put my foot down, Adrien probably would have filled at least a couple rooms to the brim with his anime dolls. And left that life-sized Kenshin statue out for the Gala…"
"And Plagg would have started his own cheese factory in the butterfly garden," added Tikki.
Marinette gave her a look of surprise. "He wouldn't!"
Tikki giggled. "He already had all the equipment picked out before I found him with Adrien's credit card."
Emilie laughed along with them but quickly sobered. "I'm still not sure of my place with Gabriel – or if I even want him in my life again, knowing everything he did. And Adrien…" she sighed. "I adore the man he has become, but I do sometimes miss the child he was."
Marinette gave her a sympathetic look. "What can I do?" she asked.
Emilie looked up and smiled. "Perhaps the better question is what I can do for you, 'Ladybug,'" she replied, raising an eyebrow. "After all, you have accepted so much responsibility in the last three years – even more in the last year alone. You are entering your final year of lycée. You're running your own fashion line, to say nothing of getting ready to take on the fashion house itself – and I know how much effort goes into that! You are operating a charity. You have a wedding to plan. And you've been keeping this mansion together, which is not an easy task! I remember one time our maid was out sick for a week and I decided to clean the house myself instead of finding a temp. It took the whole week just to finish all the dusting, to say nothing of the bathrooms. When she was better I gave her a raise and a bottle of wine on the spot!" She shook her head in amazement before fixing Marinette with a curious look. "Do you even have a maid to clean this place anymore? From what I can tell, all your boarders have a secret identity to protect, to say nothing of the small army of Kwamis flying around all the time."
Marinette flushed. "Um… occasionally? M. Agreste's maid quit the moment he was arrested, but Adrien hired Mme Lenoir as a housekeeper. She can't really keep up with everything, though, so everyone else pitches in a little – Mira and Pedro more than anyone else since they're here practically all the time. We have had a maid service come in a couple of times when we had big company events scheduled, but that's always a headache since we need to hide all the Heroes of Paris stuff and the Kwami pillows and…"
"And that's another thing you've got on your plate," Emilie finished, giving her a sympathetic smile. "On top of everything else, you're running an international super-team and fighting a pan-global criminal mastermind. And somehow you are bearing it all so well! But just because you can bear so much responsibility at such a young age doesn't mean you should have to bear it all alone. I can see you and Adrien are an incredible team. And your friends have stepped up amazingly to support you with the Heroes of Paris. So let me help you, too. At the moment my social calendar is about four years out-of-date, so I have plenty of free time to help you however I can. I want us to have a close relationship, and I want to help you and Adrien as much as possible. After all, my failures as a Guardian robbed you of your childhood every bit as much as Master Fu's selection of you did."
Marinette stared at Emilie in surprise for a moment before she burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. Feeling the wave of relief and joy washing over her from her new daughter, Emilie rushed around the table to sit next to her on the settee and wrap her arms around her. Marinette hugged her tightly and buried her face in Emilie's shoulder, allowing her tears to flow freely.