AN: This chapter and tomorrow's are the ones I'm sure everyone has been waiting for…

To Butterfly: "National Novel Writing Month." The goal is the write 50k words in the month of November. A "true NaNo" is a single novel; about half of my initial 50k came from "Into Africa," with the rest being a combination of "Horror on the Strand," "Guys' Day Out," and a ton of one-shots. Emilie basically adopting half the Heroes of Paris is pretty adorable; Kagami needs all the maternal figures she can get!

To armadas: Marinette's relationship with Emilie is so much fun to write! Physical therapy isn't something I've had to do personally, though I've known a lot of people who needed to go through it after surgeries and the like. PT or personal training would be a really good fit for Kagami; she's doing it some already since she's taken on the role of "armed combat trainer" for the Heroes of Paris. The "family business" is a definite draw, though.

To StarDaPanda225: For some reason I'm not getting emails for your reviews. Emilie is pretty much turning into the HOP Den Mother, lol. Not all of them need a(nother) mother, but Chloe and Kagami most definitely do!

To yellow 14: That one was fun to write, especially overtired Marinette lashing out at everyone!

Emilie steeled her nerves and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before entering the prison visitation room. She knew she shouldn't be so nervous – she could already sense the anxiety coming from the other room, and that itself should have given her some level of confidence. But all she felt was sadness. She had been dreading these particular visits ever since she had learned what they had done after her accident. She could feel Duusu's weight in her purse and took comfort from his presence.

Maybe she couldn't bear to face him yet, but she could at least visit her. After all, according to the warden she hadn't had a single visitor since the sentencing – and before then her attorney had only visited twice. Her devotion to her job had been so great that the only people left in her life had been Gabriel and Adrien. But Gabriel was locked up in the men's section of the same prison. And Adrien had wanted nothing to do with her for the last year.

Not that Emilie could exactly blame him for that.

Her jaw set in a stern line, Emilie pushed the door open and walked inside to find Nathalie Sancouer sitting at the table, her wrists shackled to a ring. Her normally well-manicured look was gone; her hair had fully returned to its natural brown. Without makeup, her face was pallid and drawn – lined with far more stress and tension than it had been four years earlier when Emilie had left Adrien in her care to search for her answers in Tibet. As Nathalie stared at her, Emilie could detect all of the emotions warring within her: happiness, relief, sadness, guilt, shame, even disappointment.

"Emilie–I–it's good to see you!" Nathalie finally managed as Emilie sat down in the chair opposite her.

Emilie gave her a pitying look. "Nathalie, my dear, we both know that's not entirely true."

Nathalie let out a sad chuckle. "I never could get one over on you, could I?" she asked rhetorically, her eyes trailing down to the peacock-fan brooch pinned to the front of Emilie's blouse. "And I suppose now I know why that is." She sighed heavily. "I'm ashamed to say that… I fell in love with Gabriel."

Emilie nodded, resisting the urge to chuckle. "I know. I knew all along that you had feelings for him. And I knew that he reciprocated those feelings on some level. But I was never worried or upset. I always trusted your professionalism and his faithfulness."

"And I was professional!" Nathalie insisted, her hands clenching into fists involuntarily on the table. Emilie could feel the bitterness and regret beneath her words. "Our relationship was strictly professional until the end!"

Emilie actually laughed ruefully at that. "I suppose that is why we are where we are now, isn't it?" she observed. "You relationship was purely professional – and the 'profession' was trying to get me back. But I would rather if Gabriel could have moved on with you than for him to have done what he did! And he even dragged you into it! Did either of you ever stop to ask yourselves whether I would have wanted you to wake me up if it meant holding Paris hostage for two years!?"

"That thought never even occurred to Gabriel," admitted Nathalie, no longer trying to hide her regret and grief. She looked down at her hands. "He never could have moved on from you. You were his guiding light in the darkness. You were the one and only love of his life. What did I have to offer him except my service and devotion?"

Feeling the grief behind her words, Emilie glanced at the camera in the corner and surreptitiously placed her hand over Nathalie's. "You have far more to offer," she told her firmly. "I only wish Gabriel had seen that – it would have saved everyone so much time and heartache."

Nathalie sniffed and finally met her eyes. "Then you are not mad at me?" she asked, a trace of hope seeping into her emotions.

Emilie frowned and shook her head slowly, sighing heavily. "What you did and how you did it was evil and wrong… but you did it out of love for Gabriel," she admitted. "It may take a long time before I can truly forgive you for it, but you only share a small part of the blame. I can hardly fault you for falling in love with Gabriel – I suppose that would be a bit hypocritical of me, don't you think? And for all of that… you watched over Adrien as best you could while I was gone. Thank you for that. That fact itself would cover a lot of sins."

Nathalie nodded, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Of course," she whispered hoarsely. "I only wish I could have done more."

"No one did more than you for three years," Emilie consoled her. "From what Jeanne says, few enough even tried to help him. And Gabriel blocked out anyone else who would have done anything. So thank you." She dropped her voice lower and checked to make sure no one was watching at the door. "To show my gratitude, I have two gifts for you. For the first–"

Emilie patted her purse, and Duusu phased out and shot up to Nathalie's cheek. "Miss Nathalie!" he squealed, nuzzling up against her. Nathalie broke down in tears as she cupped the Kwami in her hand.

"Thank you for treating him well enough that he wanted this visit," Emilie told her quietly. "Not everyone would have… but you did." Duusu sat down on one of Nathalie's hands, rubbing her palm with his paws, while Emilie took the other one. "Since it hurt you so badly, my second gift is the one I received myself." Emilie closed her eyes and focused her breathing, centering herself in the moment. After her sessions with Master Fu and Pedro, to say nothing of joining in the meditation at the Temple several times each week, it was now second nature to sense the reserve of golden chi waiting just beneath the surface to be accessed. She reached out a hand and cupped it in her chi, drawing a small portion out of the vast ocean and concentrating it in her hand, feeling the physical connection between that hand and the one she was holding. Nathalie gasped as the chi passed through Emilie's hand into hers. After so long, manipulating her chi no longer left Emilie feeling lightheaded afterwards. She opened her eyes and sat back. "I'm sorry I can't do more than that," she apologized. "I'm still recovering myself. But this will heal you. Although after so long using it in the broken state, it will take a few more sessions to fully counteract the effects."

Nathalie stared at her in awe, hope and joy shining through her emotions. "You mean…"

Emilie gave her a small smile. "I will see you again next week."