Nathalie looks at him once again. There is still a feeling inside her that this is all some scheme. She doesn't know how it would lead to getting Emilie back but it's all she knows how to worry about now. It's all she has known for far too long to accept the major turnaround.

Gabriel looks down at her, he'll tell her the truth, but not today. Right now he enjoys the blush scattered across her face, the one that shows her true feelings even though she might not want to. He feels selfish but he knows that's all he ever has been. He should tell her now, he doesn't know how to tell her, he doesn't know if he ever will but he promises that one day he will, and hopes it won't destroy her or what they have.

"You know, I think it's about time you sell that apartment," Gabriel suggests after a week. Nathalie doesn't know if she wants to take his suggestion too seriously, they had hardly talked in the past week, but she does suppose that's her fault for trying to avoid him.

She does miss this place though and her apartment feels empty without anyone else there. The food here is better here, she thinks she misses Ax's cooking the most, though she isn't sure she misses anything else.

Ax may have been the 'perfect' guy but he wasn't perfect for Nathalie. With an unrealistic crush on her boss, it was easy, she could ignore her feelings that would nag in the back of her mind. After Gabriel kissed her though and now this, she was overwhelmed. Nathalie had to doubt that Gabriel was the perfect guy for her. How much could she believe until life turned into a dream that was too good to be true?

When was the last time she had ever disobeyed Gabriel though? To reject such a simple request was out of the question for Nathalie. So that night she went back to her apartment, the darkness still feeling suffocating and she knew there was no food in her fridge, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had the energy to cook something after her shift.

She takes two of her brown suitcases from under her bed. They are rather plain aside from a few stickers on each with places she had traveled to. The one from Tibet is still an unfortunate reminder that she blames herself for what happened to Emilie. She had a big role in finding the miraculous and she should be the one trapped in a coma, not Emilie. It sends her back to a conversation she had with Gabriel when Emilie had first fallen into her comatose state.

Gabriel had been shaking, shock and denial coursing through his body. He had been crying too and this was the first time she had comforted him. Her arms wrapped around him and he had no problem leaning into her chest.

"It's all my fault, I tore this family apart," Nathalie insisted.

"No, Nathalie, that's not true," Gabriel said through a few harsh breaths.

"No, I helped you find the miraculous, I couldn't stop her from using it, and now I can't even help you," Nathalie explained.

"There is one thing we can do," Gabriel told her, "the ultimate power, combining the miraculous of the ladybug and the cat."

Nathalie gasped, "you know how dangerous that is, besides we don't even know where they are. They could be anywhere in the world, we don't know where the last guardian fled."

"You're right," Gabriel said, "but I think I could lure them out," he showed the butterfly miraculous from his hand.

His first villain alone had been Stoneheart, which proved that the miraculous of creation and destruction were both in Paris.

She sets her suitcases on a large bed in a guest room that was larger than her whole apartment. There was a bathroom attached which she appreciated.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I'm sorry, I'll take a smaller one," she says, it was foolish to think she got the luxury of a wonderful room.

"No, you're staying in my room."

"I can't possibly," Nathalie insists, "where will you stay?"

"With you, of course, it will be our room."

Nathalie's eyes go wide, her jaw might be on the floor or maybe just slightly unhinged not even knowing how to reject. Her face might match her turtleneck. She pinches her skin to confirm that this is indeed not a dream.

She tries again, setting her suitcases on Emilie's, now her, side of the bed. Gabriel leaves to let Nathalie get settled. This is hard, the closet is still full of all Emilie's clothes. The attached bathroom still has all of Emilie's toiletries. Everything about the room insists that Emilie is still alive except that the bed is cold and neatly made on her side. Emilie was neat until it came to the bed, she never believed in making the bed, and so their bed was only ever made if a servant made time to do it.

Nathalie wants to leave. She shouldn't be here, in their room, this room that will never be hers. She doesn't know if she's a replacement, she doesn't know if this is Gabriel truly trying to put her first, or if this is his most drawn-out and thought-out scheme that he had ever devised.

Nathalie doesn't want to mess with any of Emilie's things. Instead, she leaves her suitcases fully packed. One gets shoved in the closet and the other under the bed. Nathalie doesn't know how this is going to work, she can't possibly live out of these two suitcases and she doesn't have space for any other clothes. She opens a drawer to find a place to put her pair of contacts, even though she hardly wears them. Instead, she finds a familiar brownish-gray book with red corners.

She remembers when he akumatized himself into the Collector. She knows the conversation beforehand scared her. Gabriel knew some suspicion was on him and so the plan only made sense. Nathalie understood but it didn't ease her feelings of uncertainty.

"They're going to start reducing the citizens of Paris," Gabriel pointed out, "there is only one way to get me off that list."

"You can't possibly mean-?" Nathalie said, worried by even the vague suggestion.

"I'll be fine, I just have to wait for the perfect time," Gabriel explained.

"I wish you wouldn't, I trust you though. You'll get the miraculous."

The Collector had not gotten the miraculous, he had been close, if only he had picked a book with only a few more pages. Nathalie doesn't know much about that day because she was the first 'item' in his book of inspiration.

Nathalie glances at the clock, it's late, so she grabs some sleepwear from one of her suitcases. She might go back to the guest room just for space, if nothing else. When she reenters the room, ready to pass out for the night, she realizes Gabriel sleeps shirtless. He's asleep and looks like he has been for hours instead of ten minutes.

Nathalie, as usual, analyzes every detail about the man in front of her. The way his hair now falls onto his face and how peaceful he looks not stressing about anything. She almost thinks he's smiling in his dream world. She moves to the neatly made side of the bed and slips under the duvet. It's wrong, every part of her is telling her to run away. She shouldn't be here. Gabriel shifts as Nathalie enters the bed and she is afraid she has woken him but a soft snore confirms that she has not. He wraps his arms around her and Nathalie knows better, his subconscious thinks Emilie is back on her side of the bed.

Gabriel mumbles an incoherent phrase into Nathalie's hair. Nathalie takes a deep breath and lets herself relax, tomorrow she'll go to a different room, but tonight she lets herself believe that Gabriel knows it is her.

"I'm sorry, Nath," Gabriel says and Nathalie freezes. She doesn't understand why he would ever be sorry. The only person that Gabriel had ever apologized to was Emilie, in fact, he apologized frequently to her about his frequent failures.

"I promise to tell you one day," he mumbles softly.

Nathalie frowns, she knows he has his secrets, she knows that she knows more than most people too.

"You don't have to tell me anything," Nathalie tells him though she isn't sure he can hear her.

"I love you," he whispers.

Nathalie knows he must be having some stupid crazy dream or that his dream has changed from one of her to one of Emilie. Nathalie hopes she doesn't know Gabriel as well as she thinks she does. She hopes his feelings can change despite his persistence that he'll only ever love his wife in the basement.

"I love you too," Nathalie says with a small smile. It's late enough and she's just tired enough to believe that Gabriel might have been talking to her. Even if he wasn't it doesn't change the fact that Nathalie loves him.

Nathalie falls asleep with Gabriel's arms wrapped around her and his words still drifting in her head. She feels safe, slightly uncomfortable, but safe and it isn't just the high-security system she knows the place has. It's similar to a feeling she had when Ax and her had shared her apartment bed. Except with Ax, she didn't feel secure nor did she feel incredibly safe in her apartment and it wasn't just the sticky lock on the door that occasionally didn't work.

Another three months go by before Gabriel realizes that Nathalie is living out of suitcases. Nathalie had tried, multiple times, to move to a guest room, and most of these times, Gabriel silenced her with a kiss, and the issue wasn't discussed any further.

"What are you doing with your suitcase packed?" Nathalie recalls Gabriel asking.

"I never unpacked them," Nathalie admits.

"Why? You can't still be caught up on this guest room versus our room thing, can you?"

"No, it's not that, there just isn't room for me to put my stuff. The closet is still full of her clothes and shoes, the vanity has her makeup, the bathroom drawers have her toiletries, and the drawer here has a script from a movie she was going to audition for."

Gabriel blinks, she's right, he had never bothered to move Emilie's things, he had always assumed she was coming back and when he entered a relationship with Nathalie it had been forgotten.

"Would you like any of her things?" Gabriel asks.

"No, I couldn't possibly-" Nathalie begins to object.

"Then it will all be donated or thrown out, it isn't her space to occupy anymore, you're not living out of suitcases the rest of your life. Besides one of these days, I'm getting you an extensive addition to your wardrobe that isn't the same suit and you're going to need a little more than a suitcase to store all of it."

Nathalie doesn't argue and Gabriel begins going through Emilie's clothes separating them into three different piles. Nathalie doesn't know how Gabriel is organizing any of those clothes so she cleans up the vanity and decides to keep a few accessories Emilie owned but gets rid of most of them, she doesn't want the reminder that he'll never love her the way he loved Emilie. She turns around to see that Gabriel has begun throwing shoes into piles as well.

"What's your shoe size?" Gabriel asks.

"I'm not wearing any of her shoes."

"Some of these shoes cost thousands of dollars, you'd be insane to at least not try some of them on."

"40," Nathalie answers (equivalents: US-8.5 UK-6.5).

"And you're going to tell me that you don't want these?" Gabriel asks with a smirk and holds up a pair of bright orange heels.

"Definitely not," Nathalie shakes her head.

"Not even these?" Gabriel asks again, this time holding up a midnight blue pair of heels that look very similar to ones Nathalie wears frequently with her suit.

"Those aren't horrible."

That is how Nathalie ends up with 20 outfits from Emilie's closet, which sounded like a lot but was less than a fifth of the clothes Emilie had. The three pairs of shoes Nathalie had were added into the shoe closet, which she had ended keeping 10 of the 50 plus pairs. They both saw shoes that Emilie had never worn, maybe she never had the time to.

"I'm sorry," Gabriel says and kisses Nathalie's nose, "I promised to put you first and I didn't even realize when you were living out of your suitcases."

"You don't have to be," Nathalie tells him, "I'm here and I couldn't be happier," this was, of course, a lie because Nathalie's insecurities made sure that she was rarely happy but Gabriel didn't have to know that.

"Do you ever miss him? Ax?"

"No, I've never wanted to change what happened."

"You wouldn't go back and change any of it?"

"Not one thing," Nathalie swore it to be true and kissed him. They didn't often exchange small and sweet kisses but that made it a more heartfelt sentiment.

Soon enough it had been a year since the first time they had kissed. While this might have been an important day to some couples, Nathalie and Gabriel worked as if it was any other normal day. At the end of their day, they settled in to watch a movie and cuddled under a blanket as the movie began playing.

"Are you upset we didn't do anything big today?" Gabriel asks, "I know you and Ax went on date nights twice a week, and you mentioned how he would always prepare you dinner, and you seemed so happy that day after he said he loved you, and-"

Nathalie kissed Gabriel which quickly shut him up, "I didn't love him though, so yes those things were magical, but I rather be here with you."

"I heard you," Gabriel admits.

Nathalie was confused, "heard what?"

"Your fight with Ax, I know I said I didn't but I did."

"That's how- your words, they practically mirrored the argument because you knew- you knew exactly what you had to say to make me believe you!" Nathalie pushes herself away from Gabriel who had tried to wrap his arm around her to keep her close, "Did you even mean any of it? I knew I shouldn't have been stupid enough to believe you! It's always been about Emilie, and even after a year of this skit, it still is."

"Nathalie, it's more than that, we are more than that!"

"Prove it, you can't. We are just as bad as me and him were because just like I didn't go after him you won't come after me, will you?"

"Nathalie, please-" he said, reaching for her as she turned away.

"Try and make me stay," she spits.

Tears fall down her face as she throws her clothes back into her suitcase. She should've known, she knew him too well, he would never love her, and she was no replacement for Emilie, she could everything and she would never be enough for him. She rubs her nose with her sleeve as she turns to leave, it doesn't surprise her to see Gabriel standing in the doorway.

"You're not leaving," Gabriel tells her.

Nathalie rolls her eyes, "Dusuu, spread my feathers."

"You still wear it?" Gabriel asks as Mayura appears in front of him.

"You still wear yours," she points out, "now let me through, I rather do this the easy way."

"No, I told you, you're not leaving."

"You haven't given me a good reason to stay," Mayura says before creating a sentimonster in between them. She doesn't even need it to be impressive, she just needs it to buy her some time. The last thing she hears is Gabriel's transformation into Hawkmoth before she leaves through the window.

This plan wasn't thought out very well. Her apartment is gone and no sane person in Paris is letting a random woman from off the street stay with them. Eventually, she lets herself rest on a roof and allows herself to cry. She can't go back, she is done being manipulated by Gabriel, and is done being considered a pawn.

"Can you please just listen to me?" Hawkmoth begs from the other side of the roof.

"Can't you just listen when I tell you to leave me alone?" Mayura spits back in turn.

"Tell me where you're going and I'll let you go."

"I- I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"Is love enough to make you come back?" he asks.

"No, I'm not letting myself be used again."

"I love you," he finally cries out, "I will do anything to make it up to you, I just need you to believe, I just need you by my side."

Another man, she is certain she knows. Hawkmoth is a villain, he is supposed to say anything to get what he wants, but she doesn't want to believe that. She hates her heart that tells her that he is capable of change.

"Why did you not tell me that you heard my conversation a year ago when it happened?" Mayura finally asks.

"I wanted you to believe that I loved you and not just because you loved me, not because I felt pity, but because you were everything."

"I hate you," Mayura cries, "I hate you so much."

Hawkmoth walks to her and wipes the tears from her face with his gloved hand, "I love you, so much, I promise."

"I want to believe you."

He kisses her because he doesn't know what else to do. He tries to put all his emotion into the action, his love, his desperation, his vulnerability, the way he wants nothing more than what he has right now.

"I would follow you around the world to prove my love to you," Hawkmoth promises.

"I think I'll stay here," Mayura says.

Mayura stays, so does Nathalie. Her stuff is put back into its place in their room and Nathalie takes her place on their bed. She doesn't know what's true, she doesn't know how well she knows him or if she really knows anything at all. When Gabriel wraps his arms around her, she still feels that same sense of safety and security and she hates it. She shouldn't have agreed so easily, maybe she should have stayed in the guest room for at least tonight. Nathalie may not know him but she knows herself, and she knew that there was no point in fighting the inevitable. She falls asleep, hoping, believing, that he loves her just as she has always loved him.

Gabriel can't express how happy he is to put her stuff back where it belonged, where all of Emilie's things used to be. He knew he loved Nathalie because the thought of Emilie didn't hurt him the way it used to. He wraps his arms around her, he doesn't want to wake up without her, but he meant it when he said he would go anywhere in the world for her. As her breathing becomes soft and steady, Gabriel whispers the words again, "I love you." He doesn't ever want to let her forget. She always had her walls up, afraid of getting hurt, Gabriel knew he could get inside her walls easier than most, and he couldn't take advantage of that, not anymore. He fell asleep knowing that the woman he loves, loves him the same. He could be the poorest man in the world but if she was by his side, he would know the most important fact about himself, that he loved her more than anything else.

The next morning Nathalie wakes up without Gabriel. She knows he wouldn't leave, well, she hopes she knows he wouldn't leave. A black and red dress hangs on her closet and it reminds her of her akumatized self, Catalyst. A sticky note in Gabriel's handwriting tells her to put on the dress, and so, she does.

"You look wonderful, darling," Gabriel compliments her as he re-enters their room.

"What is this all about?" Nathalie asks curiously.

"We didn't get a good day yesterday, so today, it's just you and me. No work, no clients, no anything else, just whatever we want to do with our free day."

"I told you I didn't mind not having some big day," Nathalie reminds him.

"You did, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve something special. So, what do you want to do first?"

Nathalie smiles, she doesn't care, as long as she is with him, she's the happiest she has ever been, and she doesn't mind having to get to know Gabriel all over again. Gabriel doesn't mind having to win her over again, either. The best part about learning about someone else is getting to know yourself in the process. The best part about learning about someone you love is knowing that they love you regardless of who you are.