AN: The suggestion for this one-shot came from Butterfly. If there's someone you want to see Emilie's reunion with, put it in a review!

To Butterfly: I'm trying to hit the most significant ones, though I'm always open to suggestions!

To yellow 14: Of course, when one door closes, other doors open!

To MiraculousReader: I've made some minor corrections (around "Jagged Ride" I realized they should all be in lycée and updated a couple of the earlier stories to reflect that), and I did change the name of "The Battle of the Seine" a couple chapters in. I think the original name was something like "What You Did This Summer," but "The Battle for the Seine" has a lot more pop! Beyond that I haven't made any major edits after publication.

"Aunt Emilie!"

Emilie smiled brightly as she crossed the atrium toward the tall blonde waiting for her just outside the store on the ground level of the Agreste Fashion House building. Chloe gave her a broad smile, though Emilie could feel an undercurrent of tangled emotions beneath that happy façade. Still, as she took in her adopted niece's appearance, Emilie had to admit: the last four years had been good to her. Chloe was no longer the long, thin thirteen-year-old she remembered, having filled out a little during that time. Chloe wore a tank-top and shorts that showed off her toned muscles, as well as an entire summer's-worth of tan. Her hair seemed to have lightened in the sun. And there was something about the way she carried herself… No longer was Chloe trying to be a carbon copy of Audrey; the easy confidence she exuded was all her own.

"Wow!" Emilie observed, putting her hands on Chloe's shoulders and pulling her in for a quick hug and a kiss on her cheek. "You look good, sweetie!"

A shadow passed through Chloe's eyes, matching a slight twinge of anxiety, but it was gone as soon as Emilie noticed it. "Thanks!" the girl replied, her grin widening too much. She coughed, and her grin returned to normal. "Ladybug decided I should put some of my other skills to good use this summer and play 'ambassador,' so I've been visiting all the African temples – plus a trip to Australia. Sorry I haven't stopped to see you yet; I was in Angola with Rugindo Leoa for a few days, and I think I picked something up while I was there."

"Well, it looks like the sun agreed with you!"

"Too much," Chloe agreed, frowning. "I need to replace my whole wardrobe now!"

Emilie arched an eyebrow. "I know that's just an excuse, kiddo."

Chloe scoffed and turned to lead the way into the store, flicking her ponytail as she did so. "Please: as if I need an excuse to go shopping!"

Emilie followed her through the store to find a corner section with "Marinette" painted on the wall in careful cursive. Underneath were clothes of many different varieties, most of which had patterns of vibrant reds and oranges that reminded Emilie of nothing so much as the large tree just inside the Mansion gate. A smaller section had a logo with a small red-and-black yin-yang symbol; examining the clothing more closely Emilie saw that each piece had elements reminiscent of the Heroes of Paris' suits she'd seen on the Ladyblog. Another section held clothing with more of an international flair.

"The last four years have been so weird," Chloe muttered, running her hand down the sleeve of a Ladybug-inspired jacket in the Heroes of Paris section.

"Oh?" Emilie could feel hints of amusement and shame in Chloe's emotions.

"You remember the girl I told you about? The one that everyone likes and who has the most amazing parents?"

Emilie nodded. "The one you sort of despised at school for having everything you didn't and not having to earn her mother's attention? What about her?"

In response Chloe raised her eyebrows and nodded toward the label over that section, shaking her head ruefully. "Oh, I only idolized her for two years without knowing it, and then she somehow became one of my best friends…" She looked at Emilie and flushed. "Um… don't tell her I said that?"

Emilie giggled. "Your secret is safe with me."

Chloe put the Ladybug jacket back on the rack and selected a darker yellow one with a single black horizontal stripe. She hummed contemplatively and draped it over her arm.

"Isn't the yellow a little on-the-nose?" Emilie asked, smiling in amusement.

Chloe smirked. "Is it 'on-the-nose,' or is it 'branding'? After all, it's not like I have a secret identity to hide!"

Emilie chuckled. "I had been meaning to ask you about that."

"Do you honestly think I would be able to hide a secret like that?" Chloe commented rhetorically.

"Have you ever hidden a secret in your life – before last year, I mean?" Emilie asked by way of reply. She sighed wistfully. "I still remember when we met. You marched right up to me and Adrien, tossed your hair exactly like Audrey, and announced, 'My name is Chloe Bourgeois, I'm four years old, and my Daddy is the Mayor of Paris, so if you aren't nice to me, he'll throw you in jail!'"

Chloe flushed. "I've been trying to forget that…" she mumbled.

"I thought it was adorable," Emilie told her. She pulled a blouse off the international rack and held it up to Chloe. Chloe eyed it critically, shrugged, and added it to the growing pile over her arm. "You reminded me so much of–" She cut off abruptly on feeling the surge of anger from Chloe. "I'm sorry."

Chloe's face showed nothing but cool dispassion, the only overt indicator of her mood the slight flaring of her nostrils. "Sorry for what, Tante?"

Emilie gave her a look. "I shouldn't have even brought her up. I know you don't like to talk about her."

"Why shouldn't I like to talk about her?" Chloe scoffed, paying too-close attention to the clothes in her hands. "After all, she's just my mother who doesn't actually care about anyone but herself, who ignores me at the best of times and thinks I'm not good enough the rest of the time. Did you know I was missing the whole time she was last in Paris?" She looked back at Emilie, and Emilie could see her eyes shining. "I was abducted and tortured for a week, and as far as I can tell, she didn't even notice. She didn't even care about me enough for that."

Emilie put a hand on Chloe's shoulder and squeezed gently. "I'm so sorry, dear," she whispered. "You have become such an incredible young woman in the last four years. If Audrey can't bother to notice that, she doesn't deserve you." She felt Chloe's anger deepen and twist, and she sighed. "And you're not just angry at her, are you? You're also angry at me for leaving you, too."

Chloe gave her a look of hurt. "It's just… I needed you. Mother was never there; it was only ever you. You were the one who wanted to take me shopping. You were the one who listened to me and answered all my dumb questions."

Emilie nodded, feeling tears form in her own eyes. "I know. And I'm so very sorry, sweetheart. You thought you could rely on me, and I let you down. Believe me: I never wanted to leave you."

Chloe made a noise between a sob and a cough, and Emilie pulled her into a tight hug. The girl sighed and relaxed into the embrace, resting her head on Emilie's shoulder. "I'm so sorry I left you," Emilie whispered. "I can't imagine what the last four years have been like for you."

Chloe snorted. "I suppose I can say one thing for Hawk Moth: I was never lacking for attention with half his Akumas coming after me…"

"A good incentive to be better, huh?" Emilie observed, smiling. Chloe nodded, shame clear in her emotions. "You don't need to be ashamed of that, dear," Emilie told her. "From what I saw on the Ladyblog, you recognized what it was that made them come after you – something you only picked up from Audrey – and you corrected it. You're no longer the same girl who came to Adrien's birthday before my… trip."

Chloe frowned. "But if it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have lost Pollen," she replied sadly. "The only reason I revealed my identity to the world – what allowed Lynchpin to abduct me – was because I wanted Mother to be proud of me for something. And even that wasn't enough, by the way."

Emilie smiled sympathetically. "You don't need her approval," she told her. "You are already a better person than she will ever be, with or without a miraculous." She snorted derisively. "Even losing your miraculous doesn't make you bad or unworthy. Look at me: I lost two miraculous, and you and everyone else had to live with the consequences."

Chloe stared at her wide-eyed. "That wasn't your fault, Aunt Emilie!"

"And losing your miraculous wasn't your fault, either, dear," Emilie assured her. "I don't think any less of you since finding out what happened. I still stand by what I said: you are an amazing young woman and you have become an incredible hero."

Chloe chuckled. "Marinette and Sabrina have said the same thing."

"Then one of these days you'll have to actually listen!"

"Fine." Chloe pouted, though her anger and shame had disappeared. She glared at Emilie. "But if you leave me again, I really will hate you!"

Emilie raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled. "Dear, you know I know you don't mean that."

Chloe shook her head and grumbled, "Damn empaths."