AN: The suggestion for this chapter came from Bex is a Slytherin on AO3. If you have suggestions for character interactions or events, let me know! I'm going to continue with this anthology for a while longer, at least through chapter 9.

To Butterfly: I have it all on my computer to double-check for those references!

To StarDaPanda225: They had the Kwamis to explain things to them, but that only goes so far. Emilie will be having words with Fu about that…

To yellow 14: I love the idea of highlighting how Emilie adjusts to this "new normal"!

Emilie looked up on hearing the quick knock on her suite door. Pushing her empathy outward, she smiled on recognizing who it was. "It's open, Adrien!" she called. When he poked his head inside, she asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Actually," he replied, grinning, "I was going to ask the same thing! I realize we've moved a lot of things around in the last year, and Marinette pointed out you might not be able to find everything. So… do you want the grand tour?"

"Your fiancée is such a sweetheart," Emilie observed warmly. "I would love to see what the two of you have done with the house – I haven't really strayed past the family wing yet, and I already feel like it's far different than I remember!"

"I'm sorry things are so different now," Adrien apologized, guilt creeping into his emotions.

"Don't be," Emilie responded dismissively. "For the last year this has been your house, and you have made it comfortable! Once I'm a little more used to it, I think I will be comfortable here, too."

Emilie followed Adrien out of the suite and down the hallway past the master bedroom and his own bedroom. He pulled open the door to the fourth bedroom in the family wing and led her inside. On looking more closely, Emilie could see some small Chinese touches in the decorations, matching the pattern on the bedspread. "We decided to set up this room as another guest room when we started getting more heroes moving in – that way our family and friends have a set room near ours to use and won't be bothering everyone who's staying with us," he explained. "We moved the unsold merchandise from here into the master bedroom – we filled the closets and there are a bunch of boxes in there, too." He laughed. "There's a lot less now than when Father was arrested; a couple friends have needed changes of clothing, and every so often we donate a bunch to homeless shelters. Lately we've also brought some to the Drug Rehab Centers our Charity started this summer – with the tags removed, of course: no one wants to wear Gabriel anymore."

Emilie nodded and smiled on feeling the swell of pride from Adrien as he talked. "I'm glad to know it's all finding a use," she told him. "Have you used this room much for visitors yet?"

Adrien shook his head ruefully. "Not really. Marinette's grandmother was in town for a week over the summer, but she stayed with Tom and Sabine. It's a good thing, too, since the Mansion was an absolute madhouse – she happened to be here at the same time that we made our last move against the Lynchpin's drug smuggling, and people were in and out at all hours! We'll probably need it for the wedding, though," he added, leading her down the hallway to the kitchen. They went inside to find Marianne stirring a pot of soup. "Good afternoon, Mme Lenoir," Adrien greeted her. "That smells great!"

"Hopefully it will taste even better!" she replied, smiling brightly. She turned back to the soup and immediately swatted a small black head peeking over the edge of a smaller sauce pan with her ladle. "None of that, Plagg! Wait for the fondue to be finished, first!"

"Un-brie-lievable!" Plagg huffed, folding his arms and leaning against the spatter guard on the back of the stove. "I don't care cheddar or not it's finished; it smells gouda-nough as it is!"

Marianne shook her head and gave Adrien a look. "We need to restock on cheese again, dear," she informed him, pointing the ladle in Plagg's direction.

"I'll order some morbier," Adrien promised, grinning.

"And how are you, dear?" Marianne asked Emilie.

"Very well, thank you," she replied, smiling politely. "Lunch was wonderful as always."

"Oh, thank you!" Marianne smiled, though Emilie could feel an undercurrent of nervousness. "I know it's not the same as your old chef…"

"Nonsense!" Emilie chuckled. "Sometimes change is a good thing, and I have loved your more traditional recipes. Besides," she added, "I can't imagine any other chef taking too kindly to Kwamis floating in and out of the kitchen at all hours." At that moment a grey Kwami phased out of the refrigerator, a piece of sausage in her mouth.

"I hope there's still some left in there, Mettli," Marianne called after her.

"I didn't take too much!" Mettli replied, flying out of the kitchen toward the guest wing.

Marianne shook her head. "As long as they don't make a mess…"

Emilie laughed easily and looked around the room fondly. "I remember the last time I tried baking a cake with Adrien," she noted, sighing. "I don't think any of the batter actually made it into the pan!"

"Do you enjoy baking?" Marianne asked, leaning against the counter next to the stove. "Marinette cooks a couple times a week." She shuffled over to the floor-length cabinets. "If you would like, I can show you where everything is since we rearranged."

Emilie joined her by the cabinets. "I would love to spend more time in the kitchen!" she told her eagerly, paying careful attention as Marianne pointed out where all of the pots and pans went in the first cabinet, then the smaller appliances and baking supplies in the next cabinet.

"The way it was arranged at first, so many of the pots I used most frequently were up on the top shelf where I couldn't reach them," explained Marianne. "For the first six months, I was using a stepladder to get things down and put them back, until Marinette finally suggested that we rearrange everything to be more convenient for me." She opened the last cabinet and selected a gravy bowl before making her way back to the stove and pouring half the pot of fondue into the dish. Setting it down in front of Plagg she told him, "There you go, but it's going to be hot."

"Thanks, kiddo," the Kwami told her, dropping into the bowl with a plop. "And it's nothing like as hot as Vesuvius!"

"It must be a challenge to handle all the people staying here," Emilie observed. "To say nothing of the Kwamis!"

"Marinette has been a lifesaver," Marianne acknowledged, her emotions showing contentment. "And the others have helped a lot, too."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do!" Emilie told her as she followed Adrien out of the kitchen and down the hallway toward the entrance hall. Before following him into the office, she stopped next to a life-size statue of a man with red hair, a burgundy kimono, and a sheathed sword. She stared at it. "I keep meaning to ask: what on earth is this?"

"You mean Kenshin?" Adrien asked, grinning mischievously. "He was on sale."

She gave him a deadpan look, but started laughing on feeling his overwhelming humor. "Okay, I'll pretend I actually understood that."

"He's from an anime I found last year," Adrien explained. "A manslayer who turned his life around, swore off killing, and started helping people. He seemed oddly appropriate next to the door to Hawk Moth's old lair. Hawk Moth himself may not have changed, but the lair sure has."

Emilie nodded and followed him into the office. "I love how you redecorated in here," she observed, looking around and taking in the décor.

Adrien grinned proudly. "I just gave Marinette carte blanche and let her go wild in decorating!" he told her. "It's the same with the tapestries in the entrance hall: Marinette designed those to make the Mansion more warm and inviting. If you know what to look for, they even show the history of the miraculous – a more complete history now that we know more about Atlantis."

"They are amazing!" Emilie gushed. She looked around the office, at the slightly more modern furniture. "All the same, I do miss your father's desk – that was the first one he ever bought for the first studio. He designed the clothes that put Agreste on the map on that desk!"

She gasped on feeling the stab of discomfort and anger from Adrien. "I Cataclysmed that desk apart in the spring," he told her harshly, staring at the far wall. Shame flooded his emotions as he spoke. He went on, barely above a whisper. "I really hated it for the last three years. The only times I ever saw Father were behind that desk, and only when he was especially upset."

Emilie swallowed hard. Here was his sore spot, and she had reopened the wound. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," she whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. He stood stiffly as she hugged him. "I spoke thoughtlessly. I missed so much, and I forget just how many of your memories from that time are unhappy ones."

He broke and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Not all my memories are bad," he told her, nodding to the far wall.

She started on seeing the portrait of herself talking up a third of the wall. "Why…?"

Adrien chuckled humorlessly. "That's how Father activated the elevator to his lair; I wanted to keep it there after his arrest so we'd always have that reminder of the first Hero of Paris – though I did balance it out with the picture of the second one." He pointed to the portrait of Marinette on the opposite wall.

"Marinette and not both of you?" Emilie asked. She had to school her expression to prevent herself from reacting on feeling the wave of depression from him.

"She doesn't really need me," he muttered sullenly.

Emilie let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "You know that's not true," she told him. "I don't need to sense emotions to know that she would be as lost without you as you would be without her. And as heroes your miraculous form a perfect pair: you balance each other out."

He groaned. "I know – believe me, I know! Marinette only tells me every day! But for two years it felt like I was on the outside. Master Fu took Marinette into his confidence, and not me. Father was distant and cold. I could barely have friends – I would have been entirely alone without Marinette and Nino and Alya. All of that's been different for the last year, but even then it's because of Marinette."

Emilie nodded sadly and held him tight. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek. "You shouldn't have been made to feel like that, like you weren't good enough or you were alone. You are a wonderful young man, and your friends absolutely love you. And so do I."

Adrien sighed and relaxed into her embrace. "Thank you."

"And you and your friends have become far greater heroes than I ever was," she added, smiling encouragingly.

"I just wanted to make you proud," he replied, returning her smile.

She squeezed his shoulder. "You can't possibly make me proud; I'm already proud of you, Adrien!"