AN: Jeanne Legrande first appeared in "Tit for Tat." She's the Lead Designer at Agreste and Marinette's mentor. When Adrien was little, she would watch him during Emilie's photo shoots.

To yellow 14: Rurouni Kenshin is one of the few animes that I actually know! Adrien's self-doubt isn't something that's come out much lately, but it's still there, even with all of Marinette's assurances to the contrary. Considering how much of it comes from Gabriel (and from Fu), Emilie definitely had to address it.

To Butterfly: Chloe is the next chapter; Sabrina's after that. I will give some thought to the other Heroes… They do all know who she is, so it's a definite possibility.

A couple days after visiting Marinette and Sabine at the bakery to discuss dresses, having hardly left the Mansion since waking up, Emilie finally decided it was long past time for her to go and see the company that still bore her family's name. The Agreste Fashion House had been Gabriel's dream long before they had ever met, and she had been only too happy to support him in the endeavor, both financially and otherwise. When they had first started the fashion house, she had been the one to make the phone calls and keep the financial records, to say nothing of managing the personnel. Even after Adrien had been born, when the company was starting its rapid expansion and Gabriel had hired a manager to oversee the company and Nathalie to manage him, Emilie had stayed involved in the company's management from the background, auditing the financial records on a yearly basis. But with everything that had happened – even apart from Gabriel's arrest – what kind of shape would the company be in now?

At least the building was still standing…

She was just walking through the front door when she heard a gasp and looked over to see Jeanne Legrande staring at her, eyes wide, from across the atrium. Jeanne ran over to her and threw her arms around her in a tight hug, kissing her on both cheeks. "Emilie! It's so wonderful to see you again! I was so happy to find out you were alive, I almost rushed right over to see you, but I didn't want to overwhelm you." She held Emilie out at arm's length and looked her down critically. "You look surprisingly well, all things considered."

"All thanks to Ladybug and Cat Noir," Emilie replied, smiling brightly and putting her hands on Jeanne's shoulders. "It's so good to see you! And you are welcome to come over any time for a visit; you are never overwhelming! I would miss it if we couldn't resume our weekly get-togethers!"

"Then you must let me take you out for coffee and tea right now," insisted Jeanne, grinning eagerly and dragging her toward the exit. "There's this amazing little coffee shop just down the street – it opened about two years ago, so I'm almost certain you've never been there before."

"Oh, I couldn't take you away from your work," Emilie objected.

"Nonsense!" Jeanne laughed. "We just finished approving the Winter line yesterday, and I've got my assistant back now to keep an eye on the younger designers – even if she is younger than they are! Besides," she added, "it's not every day you get a friend back from the dead – or close enough to it."

Emilie smiled warmly as they walked and Jeanne filled her in on the last four years. Her daughter had moved away to Italy after lycée to attend university, and now it looked like she would be staying there after her graduation in two years. She had chosen to study chemistry and been offered a summer internship at a company that seemed interested in hiring her on. Emilie remembered that the girl had shown an aptitude for the sciences as far back as collège; Jeanne and her husband had worked hard to allow her to attend a lycée technologique – unbeknownst to Jeanne, Emilie had anonymously started a scholarship fund at that school specifically for Renee. As they placed their orders in the little coffee shop, Emilie pulled out her wallet, but Jeanne shook her head emphatically and slapped Emilie's hand lightly. "Don't even think about it, dear; it's my treat!"

"Oh, I couldn't possibly–" Emilie objected.

"I insist," Jeanne told her. She chuckled and led the way to a table near the back. "I may work for your company, but you are my friend! Besides, your son is far better at taking care of his employees than Gabriel was the last couple of years."

Emilie sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that."

Jeanne shook her head ruefully. "He actually insisted on doubling my salary when he named me as his new Lead Designer last year," she confided. "Considering the circumstances, I thought it was a typo on the contract when he first showed it to me, but he was adamant."

"How is the company doing lately?" asked Emilie evenly, keeping the anxiety out of her voice.

Jeanne chuckled. "If you had asked me that question a year ago, I would have given us through Christmas at the best," she admitted. "We averaged a dozen resignations a day between Gabriel's arrest and his sentencing – my Design Team was nothing but a skeleton crew by the time the dust had settled. The only reason I stayed on was for Adrien's sake, to be honest. Distributors were in an uproar. Sales were in the toilet since no one wanted to wear clothing with Hawk Moth's name on it." Emilie flinched, and Jeanne covered her hand with her own. "I'm sorry, dear."

Emilie waved her other hand dismissively. "No, it's okay. I still can't believe Gabriel would do such terrible things."

Jeanne pursed her lips sympathetically. "I certainly wouldn't have expected it of him back when I first came to work for you," she confessed. "He changed without you in his life. He hid away from everything, threw himself into his work – well, that and his terrorism. He didn't want anything to do with anyone."

"Even Adrien," Emilie whispered sadly.

"Especially Adrien," acknowledged Jeanne, a hitch in her voice. "I–I wished there was more I could do for him those first three years, but Gabriel would have none of it – he cut me out of his and Adrien's personal lives almost entirely." She brightened. "But for all that, you should be proud of your son: he's been so strong this year; I don't think there's a single poor decision he's made since taking over the company from Gabriel. He could have just sold the company, and everyone would have understood. We had several offers on the table – fire sale prices, of course, but at the time that's all the company's reputation was worth to be honest. But he refused all of them and decided to stick it out. He's managed to rehabilitate the company's name in the community far faster than I would have thought possible – the Heroes of Paris line and Charity certainly helped with that. At this point, I would say we're back close to where we were two years ago in terms of sales. In terms of creative vision, it's easily the best the company has been in years – Gabriel's vision started to cloud while he was 'distracted.' And of course the new creative direction is all thanks to Marinette."

"So what do you think of Marinette?" asked Emilie, sipping her tea.

Jeanne took a bite of her scone and eyed Emilie slyly. "You wouldn't be looking for a character reference for your future daughter-in-law, would you?"

Emilie flushed in embarrassment. "Not really?" she tried. "I mean, I only met her last week, and I owe her so much–" Jeanne hummed contemplatively. "It's just… I don't know why but she doesn't seem very comfortable around me."

Jeanne smiled sympathetically. "Give it time," she advised. "You are important to Adrien, which means you're important to her. As I said, I don't think Adrien has made a single poor decision. The girl can get carried away with her anxieties, but she has proven to be very responsible and strong. Every time I give her another responsibility at the company, she rises to the challenge as though she was born for it. To be honest, I thought he'd lost his mind when Adrien said he wanted me to train his sixteen-year-old girlfriend to essentially become the next Gabriel, but she's impressed me with her design aesthetic – and her work ethic."

Emilie nodded. "I'm glad to hear the company is in such good hands with the two of them," she told her. She smiled. "Just by watching the two of them over the last week, I knew they were in good hands with each other!"

It was amazing to find out that the company was doing so well under Adrien's leadership, and that he and Marinette worked so well together in the Fashion House. Of course, Emilie couldn't help but wonder where her place was in all of this.