Day 11: Badass
On Nathalie's head there was only black. After exiting that building by her own means, she collapsed in front of Ladybug and Chat Noir. From there she did not know what would happen. She also had no sense of time so she didn't know how long it had been since the incident.
She opened her eyes. Nathalie's head was spinning. Her vision was a bit blurry, so she couldn't quite tell where she was.
She would soon get that answer to her question.
"Nathalie?" Asked the person who was next to her.
That voice was familiar. She turned her head to the source of the sound, only to find a rather concerned Gabriel looking at her.
"Gabriel, where am I?" Her room has changed so it was difficult for her to recognize. It was much more clean than the last time she was there, before she left the Agrestes.
"You are in your home Nathalie. Our home" Gabriel replied, helping her settle into her pillows.
Nathalie ran her hand over her face, only to discover that it was completely bandaged.
"You suffered very serious burns, Nathalie. You'll be wearing those bandages for a long time. Luckily the damage was not more serious" Gabriel took the glass of water that was on the bedside table "Please drink a little, you need it."
With her free hand, Nathalie greedily drank the cold water, as if she hadn't had a drink for months.
"Do you want some more?" Gabriel asked.
"I'm fine, thanks" she said curtly.
Gabriel got up.
"Alright. I'm going to tell Adrien that you're awake. He will be happy to see you" Gabriel left the room taking the glass of water
Nathalie didn't know if she was ready to see Adrien again.
Adrien was in her room talking to Plagg. Plagg was eating a slice of cheese.
"Plagg, how do you think Nathalie will wake up soon?"
Plagg took a large bite of cheese from him before replying.
"Why you don't you ask him."
Adrien turned to see where Plagg was pointing, only to see his father.
"Adrien, Nathalie woke up. You can go see her right now. Just take it easy and don't overwhelm her please" Gabriel put his hands behind her back.
"Of course, father"
Adrien stood up abruptly and left his room. He went straight to Nathalie's room
He burst in to see Nathalie wide awake and in bed.
"Nathalie."
Adrien sat next to her and hugged her.
"You're fine, Nathalie. I missed you a lot."
Nathalie welcomed the hug, happy to see Adrien again.
They both separated and Adrien sat in the chair that was next to the bed.
"Nathalie, what you did was very dangerous. You could have died" Adrien said worriedly.
"I know Adrien, I was always aware of the dangers of using a damaged miraculous. I didn't mind doing it as long as I could bring your mother back" Nathalie lay down again between the fluffy pillows Gabriel helped her arrange.
"But Nathalie, why bring my mother back?" Adrien questioned, wanting to know the reasons to do something crazy like that.
"Because I love you, Adrien, and I only want the best for you. Because I know you miss your mother" Nathalie said. She already assumed that Gabriel had told him the reasons why he left.
"But now you're here. I had already assumed that my mother was not coming back."
The woman was thoughtful. It was quite ironic that Adrien was the one who wanted to move on with his life.
"By the way, Adrien, how are things with your father?" Nathalie questioned him, wanting to know how the Hawkmoth thing was.
"We haven't even started to resolve the matter yet. It's complicated" Adrien paused "But that's not what's important right now. I am happy that you are here with us Nathalie. After all, you were the reason for me to go to school like I always wanted to. And that my father gives me permission for many things, actually."
Adrien leaned over to kiss Nathalie on the cheek.
"Thank you, Nathalie, thank you very much for everything."
After the talk with Adrien, Nathalie felt that a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She thought that Adrien had a grudge against her for the things she had done in all that time she was Mayura. But she discovered with relief that Adrien was not that kind of person.
She didn't deserve someone like Adrien.
But she still had another matter to resolve.
Gabriel must be hating her for doing what she did. He must have loathed her for reprising her role as Mayura.
At night, Gabriel brought her medicine and dedicated himself to treating her burns. He was very gentle and diligent in healing and bandaging her burned hand back.
Nathalie watched her now bandaged hand as Gabriel organized the medicine cabinet.
"Gabriel" she pronounced.
"Yes? Gabriel closed the medicine cabinet, finished cleaning up the leftovers.
"We can talk?"
Gabriel sat down next to her.
"What do you have to tell me?"
"Gabriel, I apologize. For the hardships I put you through. I understand if you don't want to have anything else to do with me after this."
Gabriel wasn't understanding anything Nathalie was telling him.
"I've never said I didn't want to deal with you anymore, Nathalie. But I'm still mad at you gor leaving like that, without saying anything. Because I was very worried about you, I was afraid that something bad would happen to you, Nathalie."
Natalie couldn't believe it.
"Your well-being is the most important thing to me, Nathalie" he took her hand in his "It always has been even, if I couldn't give proper attention to the matter."
"What do you mean? Nathalie was having a hard time understanding what it meant."
"I'm not going back to Hawkmoth anymore. If that endangers your health or your very existence, I'd rather not do it again" Gabriel said. His voice trembled a bit when he said that.
"What about Emily?" she questioned.
"At this point, I think it's best to let her go.
Nathalie didn't believe what was happening.
"You must hate me for all this."
"You are not beloathed, Nathalie, rather you are my beloved Nathalie."
That brought tears to Nathalie's eyes
"I love you, Nathalie. You are more than my friend and my confidant. You were there for Adrien when I couldn't and I thank you for that" Gabriel kissed the woman's hand.
Natalie was happy. She could already see a much clearer and better future for both herself and the Agreste family.
"Will you stay here with me?" Gabriel kept her hand in his while he waited for her answer.
"Nothing would make me happier" Nathalie said, thinking about the possibilities of the future, together with her beloved Agrestes.
And here we are in the end of this story. Thank you very much to everyone who read, I will probably upload more of my miraculous stories soon, especially the ones I'm writing with the Gabenath ship. Until next time.