AN: I was already thinking about this one, but a guest review on also suggested it. If you have any suggestions, let me know! I only have 1 or 2 unwritten chapters planned for this anthology.

To yellow 14: I… huh. I never actually checked that since I assumed there were orphanages pretty much everywhere, but as far as I can tell, you are correct. That's definitely my bad.

Emilie had settled on an outdoor location for this particular visit – a café down the block from the Agreste Fashion House building. It was actually the same café where Emilie had met with another old friend from the fashion world months ago, just a couple weeks after waking up. That had been such an exciting visit: two old friends catching up after so long apart and picking up as though it had just been yesterday (which, for Emilie, it almost had!). This time, however, the reunion wasn't quite as joyous.

It had all started yesterday, when Emilie stopped in at the Dupain-Chengs' bakery in the afternoon and was surprised to find Chloe standing behind the counter and ringing up orders. Chloe's demeanor had been outwardly calm and professional, though she had been starting to fall behind the constant orders flooding in during the late afternoon rush. Under the surface, however, Emilie had sensed the anger and frustration the girl was trying to hide away and ignore with the frenetic pace and constant noise of the bakery. Sabine had caught Emilie's eye while handing a bag to a customer at the counter and pursed her lips on recognizing Emilie's concerned look. Seeing a break in the orders coming in, Sabine had tapped Chloe on the shoulder and taken her place at the register before passing Emilie a bag with a couple muffins. Emilie wordlessly nodded for Chloe to join her at the single open table next to the front window.

Chloe had uttered a single word before shutting down and shoving the entire muffin into her mouth: "Mother."

Emilie had put her hand on Chloe's shoulder and pulled her into a one-armed hug, almost gasping in shock when the girl didn't reject the public display of affection but instead leaned into the touch, resting her head on Emilie's shoulder. They had sat like that for almost an hour without another word spoken before Chloe finally sniffled, stood up, and returned to the counter.

Adrien had called later in the evening, after Emilie had returned to the Mansion, to let her know that he and Marinette wouldn't be home for dinner. Marinette was staying at the bakery for the rest of the week to keep Chloe company, and he was going to join them for the night. Then Sabrina and Alya were planning to spend the next few nights with the two girls for an extended sleepover. Emilie had bit back her initial comment and merely told him to give her love to the girls and let them know to call her if they needed anything.

Months of progress by Chloe, all rolled back in a single day.

So here Emilie was, sitting across from the self-proclaimed Reine de l'Université – who had dropped the "-ité" the moment she graduated. And started calling herself Reine de Style to boot.

"I'm telling you, darling, what is Paris fashion coming to these days?" Audrey asked rhetorically gesturing toward the floral patterned skirt worn by a woman walking past them on the street. "All these ridiculous colors. And the frills! Sleek and refined is in this season!" She waved to her own outfit as evidence.

Emilie frowned. "I happen to like bright colors," she noted, sipping her tea. "So much cheerier, it always lifts my mood. Besides have you seen the Fall Line from Agreste?"

Audrey scoffed. "I suppose you would be partial to your own company, Em," she observed, raising an eyebrow at her. "And I can admit that I like the new direction since the last Spring Line far better than anything Gabriel put out over the last few years." She made a face. "So many of his designs looked like he'd just thrown paint cans at a department store dummy! Or like something created by a colorblind monk. And I don't just mean the ones he was selling in his stores…" She glared down at the latte in her hand and stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Who made this thing? It's too milky! Utterly ridiculous!"

Emilie rolled her eyes. ""You never change, Aud," she sighed. "Do you remember that Italian restaurant we visited our first semester?"

Audrey groaned. "They put far too much cheese on my fettuccini!"

"The dish was supposed to come with cheese. And it was still good food," argued Emilie.

"You always were my little ray of sunshine, Em," Audrey commented, shaking her head. "It's a pity that the date didn't turn out any better than the food!"

"What was that boy's name?" Emilie asked, stifling a laugh at the memory. Audrey had ranted about him for a week straight afterward!

"'Jean'," replied Audrey, shuddering. "Such a common name – and such a common boy. Two minutes. Of course, you didn't fare any better on that date, did you, darling?"

Emilie pursed her lips. "That was my first date with Gabriel, remember? Your 'can't miss,' 'future-of-fashion,' brilliant budding designer?"

"I remember." Audrey shrugged. "And I had such high hopes for him when we first met, too. His use of color blew away our entire Design class. He was the next big thing for such a long time… but to fall so low. Now, I'm not saying Andre is any better – though at least he's not in jail. But I guess we both ended up married to losers." She chuckled. "When they say the woman is the better half, in our cases they're absolutely correct!"

"Gabriel was a good man when we first met," Emilie pointed out acidly. "Andre was, too, for that matter. And even if I haven't seen much of him lately, that doesn't appear to have changed."

"Yeah, well, Gabriel also became Hawk Moth," Audrey argued, arching an eyebrow at her in challenge. "And quite apart from his actual terrorism, those Akumas! They were committing 'style terrorism'! I mean, Style Queen? So much gold and glitter. And what was with those spikes? I'm sure he did that just to punish me! If I'd known it was him, I would have turned him to glitter! Of course," she mused, "becoming a super-villain takes a lot of spine. I suppose that could set him apart as an improvement over the spineless, gutless man I married!"

"Don't you remember when you first met Andre?" Emilie asked, frowning. "He was so sweet, so doting and caring. I could tell he loved you very much."

Audrey shook her head. "You can call him sweet or loving if you wish; I would call him weak. A politician who can't stand up for himself. If he had even a fraction of Gabriel's fire, maybe I would be able to stand living in the same country as him!"

"Still," Emilie noted, "at least our children both turned out well."

Audrey hummed dubiously. "Your Adrien, maybe," she admitted. "I suppose he has inherited a little of Gabriel's drive." Emilie gave her a curious look. "Oh, I've been keeping up with his little fashion empire since he took over the company – I was curious how it would fare after he decided to gut it out instead of selling. He's had a couple of flops, of course, and he doesn't have a fraction of Gabriel's design sense himself. That Legrande isn't the sharpest designer, either." Emilie forced herself to breath normally. "But he did pick well with that Marinette."

Emilie raised an eyebrow and cocked her head in surprise. "Was–was that a compliment I heard just now?"

"Of course it was," Audrey retorted dismissively. "I called that the girl was going places years ago, so of course she's going to be the next big name in Paris fashion!"

Of course: same old Audrey.

"But Chloe?" Audrey continued, giving Emilie a dubious look. "You really think she turned out well?"

"Don't you?"

"Lazy, that's what she is," Audrey scoffed. "If it weren't for that redhead pushover friend of hers, I just know she would be failing in school. And even with the help, she still can't manage better than a low A. Of course, that's probably because she's always flitting off to do something else pointless and beneath her. She can't be on time to save her life, and she can't prioritize. Did you know Andre arranged for us to have tea yesterday after school but she never showed?"

"I can't imagine why…" Emilie muttered. Louder she pointed out, "Chloe is a superhero. I'd hardly call that 'unimportant.'"

Audrey scoffed. "'Superhero'… I'm sure you feel beholden to the Heroes of Paris for waking you up, darling, but Chloe hardly belongs on their level. In fact, when she first got that miraculous-thing, she was nothing but an irresponsible show-off, thinking that she could just declare herself to the world and we'd all have to fawn over her. Honestly, that girl might be a bigger disappointment than even her father!"

Emilie narrowed her eyes. "Do you have any idea what she went through because of that?"

"Whatever it was, she brought it on herself." Audrey waved a hand dismissively.

Emilie could feel her own righteous anger rising, but it wouldn't solve anything – not with Audrey and certainly not when they were in public. She took in a calming breath and forced herself to release the fury into the atmosphere. Tapping into her miraculous, she narrowed in on Audrey's emotions: arrogance, pride, fear, a trace of… regret? "Do you really think all of that about Chloe?" Emilie asked sadly.

Audrey gave her a look. "Considering how incredible her mother is, I expected any daughter of mine to be… well…"

"'Incredible'?" Emilie supplied, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course," Audrey agreed, arching an eyebrow. "Who wouldn't?"

"So you're disappointed that Chloe hasn't lived up to your impossibly-high standards?"

"How is it impossibly-high for me to want her to reach her full potential?" demanded Audrey, folding her arms haughtily.

"Because it's blinded you to your own daughter! You have gotten so wrapped up in what you want Chloe to be that you've completely missed out on who she really is!" retorted Emilie, letting out an angry breath and folding her arms. "You want her to be a carbon copy of you – which she has tried for years to become – but that's just not who she is. Instead of a miniature version of yourself – haughty, arrogant, looking down her nose at the 'peasants' – what you have is a kind, sweet, caring young woman who always tries to do the right thing and help others. Far from lazy, she might work harder than any other of the Heroes of Paris except Ladybug herself! And her priorities aren't wrong just because they're not yours: after trying yours out, she changed. Now she puts other people's needs ahead of her own to a fault! So no, she isn't you, Audrey. She's better."

Audrey scoffed dismissively. "What do you know of my daughter?"

Emilie raised an eyebrow. "What do you know of your daughter?"

Audrey huffed. "I know enough."

That's debatable. "Well, I know that she loves you, despite her best efforts to hide it," Emilie answered heatedly. She could feel her anger returning – a paparazzo on the other side of the street cocked his head in their direction, raising his camera. "I know that she also hates you because of how hyper-critical you always are. I know that she has only ever wanted your attention and approval, and that until only a few years ago, she would have done literally anything to earn it. And I know that the only reason she has been able to move past that and become who she is now is because she found a new purpose and a new family with the Heroes of Paris. That's your daughter"

Audrey stared at her in shock. "How could you possibly know all that?"

"I listen."