Marinette sighed. In front of her was the Miraculous Box. Not the one Fu guarded, but the one that Nia had taken to Fu. With Adrien's mother, only a select few were around to see it; But for this, the entire team would be there. She hoped she was just able to recreate the very thing that healed Emilie.
Speaking of which, Emilie and Greg had also joined them. Emilie was happy when Duusu and Nooroo were charging at her and pulled her in a hug. "Oh you two…missed you two sweet-rolls." She said.
"I'm not a sweet-roll. I'm not sweet at all." Duusu muttered as she fought back tears. "I'm happy you're back, Emmy…Do not do anything stupid like that ever again."
"I am kicking myself for it every day, Duusu." Emilie said as she patted the little back of Duusu. "Nooroo…I'm so sorry what Gabriel put you through. I should have been more careful. He put you through a lot."
"It's all right. I was saved. I am healed now, thanks to the good care of Mr. Fu and the others." Nooroo said back.
"You are never mad, are you, butterwings?" Duusu droned.
"Are you mad at her?" Nooroo asked Duusu.
"Maybe…No!" Duusu huffed. "I should be though."
"Are you feeling fine today, Aunt Emilie?" Chloé asked Emilie.
"I am, thanks for asking Chloé." Emilie noted. "How is André?"
"He's better. Without mom he has been focusing on cleaning up his add. Lost weight. Can't do anything about the premature gray hair, though." Chloé replied. "He plans to hit the dating scene in the future."
"Really? And how does that make you feel?" Emilie asked.
"I actually gave him the idea. Not outright suggesting it but saying he should find his own happiness too. So maybe he can learn to love again after…" Chloé didn't want to speak her name. "She's recently in rehab by the way after she got alcohol poisoning."
"Man, Au-the bitch has certainly hit rock bottom." Emilie muttered.
"Em! Language!" Greg noted.
"Yeah, you're right. It'd be an insult to female dogs if I compared her to one." Emilie joked. It got everyone in the room to laugh. "In all seriousness though. They're teens, they must have heard worse at this point."
"Not Adrien, he is the sunshine child." Greg said.
"Sorry Uncle Greg, but I have heard a lot of colorful language at school and certainly used my fair share when particular difficult Akumas came our way." Adrien pointed out.
"No, my innocent godson, tarnished." Greg said with fake drama and sorrow.
"My son has joined the dark side now." Emilie said with a certain amount of ham.
"Oh my god, they're dorks. The entire family is made up of dorks." Alix muttered.
Emilie smiled as she removed her jacket and showed a t-shirt that said 'You heard of Dad jokes, wait until you hear my Mom jokes.' "You better believe it, missy!" Alix just threw her hands in the air.
"Dude, your mom's a riot!" Kim laughed heartily.
"And you are all so precious." Emilie said, putting her hands on her cheeks. "Now…are you going to formally introduce me to your friends, Adrien?"
"Well, you know Marinette, Nino and Alya already. These are Alix, Kim…" Alix huffed but raised her hand to greet. Kim put his hands to his side and puffed his chest. "Rose and Juleka…" Rose bopped in her seat and eagerly waved both hands as Juleka just gave a soft smile. "Marc and Nathaniel…" Marc waved a bit, but Nathaniel was still with his nose in his sketchbook. Marc elbowed Nath to snap him out, so that he could look away long enough to greet her and return to the sketches. "Ivan and Mylene." The Lovey-dovey couple just gave a friendly nod.
"Howdy!" Lila said as she appeared, hanging upside down beside Emilie from the ceiling, much like the animal her Miraculous is based upon.
Emilie jumped back. "Whoa, they should put a bell around this one."
"That's Lila. She is a troubled teen turned team cloud-cuckoo-lander." Adrien noted.
Lila stuck out her tongue at him. "I brought popcorn for the show." She said as she grabbed a bucket, but it all fell out since she still was upside down. "Didn't think that one through."
"Anyhow. Next we have Kagami…" whom gave a polite bow. "Our resident brainy duo Max and Sabrina." Max pushed his glasses further up his nose and Sabrina nodded. "And that flying little robot over there is Markov. Max made him."
"Greetings, Miss Emilie. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Markov said.
"Oh, you are adorable…" Emilie said. "Can we also get one?"
"I am afraid that Markov is one of a kind, I don't think I'll be able to make another like him." Max admitted.
"In hindsight it would be too much of a good thing." Emilie noted.
"Just a few more people to introduce." Adrien continued. "Nino's adopted sis Nia". Nia let out an 'eep' and hid her face in her hood. "She's shy…And then we have Luka of course…"
"Oh…the boy whom has won the heart of my daughter in all but blood." Emilie said with a smile.
Luka smiled back. "It is nice to mees you, Miss Emilie."
"Now, I know you and Chloé are going steady but…" Emilie began.
"Mom, I already gave him the 'break her heart and I'll hurt you' speech." Adrien noted.
"Dang, I have missed that too." Emilie pouted.
"Your song…it is full of joyful notes, a sense of freedom. There are a few sorrowful notes as well, but they start to finish bit by bit. A song of healing." Luka noted.
Emilie blinked and turned to Chloé. "It is his thing. He basically vibe checks but he calls it a heartsong." Chloé explained.
"I also think your and Mr. Cipica's heartsongs are harmonizing perfectly." Luka noted.
Both Emilie and Greg blushed as they simultaneously muttered "What?"
"Well that's the first time someone made my mom feel flustered." Adrien noted.
Master Fu decided to break the awkward silence as he slowly moved over, barely holding himself upright with his cane, a few others sitting nearby and came face to face with Emilie. "Mrs…Graham de Vanily is what you would like to be called now, right?"
"Greetings, great Guardian." Emilie said, sounding serious and a respectful bow. "I apologize for my actions in the past, for having the Miraculous fall in the hands of evil. My family should have sought you out to return them. I could have done so but…I was perhaps a bit selfish in keeping Nooroo and Duusu. And stupid for trying to resolve things myself."
"All is forgiven. In the end they were able to rejoin their brethren. And I know how easy it is to get attached to the Kwamis. They have been my friends for over a century after all." Fu noted. "And I have made a fair share of mistakes after all. Its how they got lost in the first place. The past should be in the past."
"Everyone is so easy to forgive me about being stupid." Emilie noted.
"If we didn't forgive, we'd have no one left. Besides you were not the one whom terrorized Paris." Fu noted. "As for Nooroo and Duusu, since I am not going anywhere anytime soon, and I am passing on my duties, I think you should still be able to see them anytime you want."
"That's so great to hear." Emilie said as she scooped the two kwamis in a hug again.
"Easy, don't ruffle my feathers." Duusu huffed. He calmed down though and gave a soft smile. "But that is indeed great to hear, Emilie." Nooroo agreed.
"I think that it's time to add a few more kwamis to the family." Fu noted. He sat down again as he turned to Marinette. "Marinette, if you'd please."
"If it works for Emilie, it will work for these kwami." Marinette said as she readied herself. "Ready, Tikki?"
"Always, Marinette!" Tikki assured her.
Wordlessly, Marinette transformed into Ladybug, which astonished Emilie as she never got as far as to transform wordlessly. Ladybug held up her hands and closed her eyes and started to make the same hand signals she once used when preparing her healing ritual for Adrien's mom. Her spots glowed. She opened her eyes again as she grabbed her yo-yo and opened it. She aimed the light inside at the box of dormant and broken Miraculouses. A stream of white light came for it and from the spots another jet of light came that converged onto the box at the same time as the yo-yo's light.
The box glowed before it was engulfed into a colorful tornado of light. For some reason Lila has been able to pull out sunglasses and put it on as she happily munched onto her popcorn (five second rule). The tornado of light died down and the box just sat there for a few moments. "Did it work?" Ladybug asked. She approached the box slowly, and a few like Adrien and Nia also got up to see.
The insides of the box suddenly glowed out of nowhere and several spheres of colorful light flew out…one by one they formed into kwamis. The creatures looked around, and checked themselves out.
"I'm alive!"
"Ooh, where are we?"
"Oh, shiny!"
"Yay! I'm okay!"
"We have been saved."
They started to fly around wildly exploring the new area they were in, trying to touch everything and getting into people's faces. "Easy, easy…No, don't touch that, that's expensive. Please ease down!" Fu asked the kwamis.
"Well, they are an excitable bunch, are they?" Chloé noted.
"A lot of the kwamis don't get out much until they have wielders." Ladybug pointed out. "Should calm them down though. Er…Please, kwamis?"
"Hello, the girl whom brought you back into existence wants a moment of your time?" Adrien noted.
The kwamis stopped mid-air and then turned to Ladybug. Ladybug suddenly felt nervous with the eyes on her and just raised her hand to give a small wave. The kwamis smiled and then charged at her, tackling her to the ground and hugging her.
"You saved us!"
"Our hero!"
"We are forever grateful!"
"Your scent is nice!"
Ladybug giggled as the hugging kwami whom flew around her tickled her and she detransformed, allowing Tikki to come out and greet the new Kwamis, whom gave Marinette some space. They were greeted by other kwamis of the heroes to make them feel welcome. Everyone was happy that these kwami, after the fate they suffered from the Kwami hunter, were now all right again.
One of these kwamis had an emotional reunion. Nia, Cammo on her shoulder, looked at the elephant Kwami now floating in front of them. "Loxxo?" she asked softly.
"Nia…It's so great to see you again." The elephant kwami, once having belonged to her dad, said. "I see you got a new group of friends."
"They have been taking care of me since…I even found a new family. But I'm glad that you are back again, you are family too." Nia said with tears in her eyes.
"It is good to have you back. Though there is nothing which can to bring back Grant…glad to see you again, old friend." Cammo said as he hugged his fellow Kwami.
"And the Huntsman?" Loxxo asked.
"Defeated. All about crippled. No more fake deaths where he vanished and reappears later. This time he is in custody, he is being watched and is being pried for info to undo the damage he did. He is not getting away." Nia said, her hands clenching into fists. "But enough about him." Nia said, shaking her head and focusing on the elephant Kwami again. "We should think happy thoughts now."
Several of the other Kwamis are going around studying the other people and kwamis in the room but a select few started to linger at specific spots or with specific people. One of them was a kwami whom didn't have an animal theme but instead looked robotic. He looked Markov in the optics. "Hello, I'm Digitt, nice to meet you. Say, you are amazing… technology has advanced so much when I was asleep. An artificial lifeform without magic? With thoughts and feelings? My domain of Innovation has been taken to heights I couldn't dream of."
"He is so life-like he was able to be affected by to the Butterfly Miraculous." Max noted.
"Yes, that was a development that was unexpected for all of us." Markov added.
"Fascinating, if you could become Tenshified…" Digitt said with a pensive look on his face.
"It was Akumatized since the Butterfly was in wrong hands…" Markov notified.
Digitt ignored it. "…if that's possible I wonder if…" Digitt looked pensive. "Well, let's think about that later. I want to know about what more advancements technology has made."
"I should be perfectly capable, alongside Markov, to fill you in on what has happened." Max said, whom is always eager to talk about technology and would be able to actually understand what he's saying.
Fu was overlooking the scene and chuckled. "This warms my heart." Fu noted.
"Yeah, it is great they have a new chance at life." Marinette said. One of the Kwamis, a firebird-themed one, had nestled on top of her head and made herself comfy. "Now, what is going to happen to them?"
"I can no longer take care of that much Kwamis. I had to heal Nooroo and Duusu and I could barely do that without help from Marianne and the rest of you helping me out." Fu noted. "It pains me to admit but at this point I can no longer be in denial about my physical state."
"So what is the best course of action?" Adrien asked.
"Well, I was going to pass the Miracle Box onto you at a certain point. Now that the kwamis are healed I think I can formally leave the Miracle Box in your care. One of you could take it." He noted.
"Our apartment isn't too big and while Plagg can pass for a kitten, I am not sure that in an apartment complex I could keep so many out of view, especially the excitable ones. We plan to move but we aren't there yet."
"I could, my parents know too and we have room but we also have a bakery. I could suggest that we may spread out the remaining kwamis. It would lighten the load and making sure that not too much kwamis are in one place, meaning less chance of them all being caught at once should someone come after them. Besides, some Kwamis are already bonding." Marinette suggested, as she looked at Loxxo reconnecting with Nia and Digitt flying around Markov. "I can still keep the box though, because the item itself has some abilities that may come in handy in the future too."
"So…would that mean we at least we could take Duusu and Nooroo should the move be completed?" Emilie asked. "I know I made a mistake but I care a lot for them…If Greg is ok with it too?"
"I would love to welcome them in our new home." Greg added.
"We would love to stay with you too if given the choice." Duusu noted. "I care, okay?"
"And you told me about the Miracle Box can connect to the other Miraculous' weapons? So in case of emergency we can still spirit the Miraculous away in case of emergency." Marinette noted. "I know it is a lot different from what you did, but…"
"It is right. Times have change. What worked for me wouldn't work for you." Fu noted. "You and your friends have long since proven themselves. I would not be worried."
Marinette smiled. She looked at the carefree revived Kwamis flying around. "It may also be just in time. Latombe has been too quiet. He may not wanted to get caught in between the anomalies and Kwami Hunter. But he won't remain quiet for long. He may not have a lot of resources so he is saving them up and strike back with full force. We need to be prepared."
"You think that the current team wouldn't be enough?" Master Fu asked.
"Maybe not in terms of Latombe, but the fallout of Multiversity caused more anomalies, and more barrier-crossers that is keeping even the expanded team busy. And if the Kwami Hunter and Multiversity showed us anything, there will be more threats flocking towards us." Marinette said.
"And no disrespect, gonna be blunt, you may have tried to keep the kwami safe, but they didn't get out much and didn't get to see a lot of the outside world. They need a bit of an education otherwise they will not be able to function properly or get into trouble." Chloé added.
"I see…you have put any thought into whom may make good future teammates?" Fu asked.
"I have bits and pieces. Studying those whom have been akumatized…Hawkmoth more often then not, out of all the people whom felt a negative emotion that day, didn't choose a random criminal or anything. Someone whom is akumatized needs to have at least a minimum level of magical compatibility to have potential. Akumas made from people with low potential are swiftly dealt with. I mean, Akumas are Miraculous derived, so by that logic they should be compatible with a Miraculous directly as well?" Marinette explained.
"While there are other methods to determine that, I must admit that an akuma may also have been an indicator." Fu admits.
"Well, the only ones in our class whom are not heroes are the newbies. Lysander, Reece, Scott, Kiva…and they each made tough Akumas."
"Aurore and Jean too. So maybe we could consider them." Chloé added.
"Wayhem from what I remember but while he's nice, even when he is toning down he can be a bit much." Adrien said as he scratched the back of his head.
"It is just a potential 'what if' right? For now?" Emilie asked.
"For now. But we can't predict just yet what we may face yet. We hope we are prepared by then." Marinette noted.
"Would you be consider picking up the mantle of a hero again, Mom?" Adrien asked.
"While I still know some moves and…I was capable with Duusu…I can't do it anymore. I think being a good parent should be my biggest priority. I had my chance and quite frankly I blew it. Besides, I have not been able to bring out the full potential in Duusu and Nooroo because I was already a bit older ten you were when I got them. They need someone younger then me…smarter then me to take on the mantle." Emilie said.
"That is understandable. If you are not comfortable…" Adrien said.
"But hey, if the new Butterfly would need a champion I wouldn't say no. There may be a time we would be able to fight side by side after all." Emilie added.
Adrien smiled. "That is fine, I guess. So, what now Milady."
"For now, let's give the kwamis time to relax and rediscover themselves. After that, do what we always do. Prepare for what may come, and fight hard when it finally comes." Marinette replied.
It is something everyone in the group silently agreed on, and the rest would also agree on when they would share their thoughts later. The work of a hero is never done.