Nathalie sometimes forgets.
Of course, she remembers the horrible day with extreme clarity, but when she's in his presence, it's so easy to think that it's him.
But then when she's alone, it all comes rushing back. The day when Gabriel Agreste died.
Adrien was three years old. Emilie had just gotten back home after the final filming day for Solitude. The family bodyguard had gone to pick up Gabriel from the airport after he'd returned from a trip to America. That's when Emilie got the call.
The plain had crashed. There were no survivors.
Nathalie didn't hear the conversation on the phone, but she watched as Emilie's demeanor went for exhausted but happy to devastated. Nathalie promptly ushered Adrien to his room and quickly got him ready for bed.
"I want Mama to tuck me in."
Nathalie sighed. "Mama's busy right now. I can read you a story if you want."
Adrien thought for a moment. "Okay," he said with a determined nod.
He was asleep three pages in. Nathalie closed the book and quietly snuck out of the room. When she approached the living room where Emilie had been, she was met with emptiness.
When she finally found the blonde woman, she knew something was horribly wrong. Emilie was sobbing in Gabriel's office, clutching a photo of the couple on their wedding to her heart. She was on the floor, her back against the desk.
Nathalie didn't know what to do. In the ten years she'd known Emilie, she'd never seen her cry. She always insisted that image was everything and that showing any sort of negative emotion was a sign of weakness.
Nathalie cautiously closed the door behind her and approached the weeping woman. "Mrs. Agreste?"
Emilie cried harder, her wails raising the hair on the back of Nathalie's neck.
Nathalie kneeled next to her. "Emilie?" she whispered.
The next thing she knew, Emilie had dropped the frame and flung her arms around her neck. Nathalie hesitated, but hugged her back lightly. She was completely lost on what to do. She didn't even know what the phone call was about. "Emilie, what happened?"
"He's," the woman sobbed. "He's gone!" She continued to wail, wrenching Nathalie's heart. "The p-plane c-c-crashed!" She could hardly speak from the sobs wracking her slim frame.
Nathalie froze. What? Gabriel's... dead?
Emilie's sobs had quieted to sniffles. "He's gone. And he's never coming back," she whispered, her voice raw from the grief. She pulled away from Nathalie and turned back to the picture lying on the ground. "He's never coming back. I'll never see him again!"
Her crying picked up again as she picked up the frame and stared at it. She ran her finger along Gabriel's face, one of the few captured moments where he was smiling widely. He was looking directly at the camera, but Emilie was kissing him on the cheek with her arms draped gently on his shoulders. "It's not fair," she sniffled after she had calmed down.
"What are you going to tell Adrien?"
Nathalie watched as Emilie's faced scrunched up in pain. She held up a hand to her mouth and sobbed. "Adrien. He's too young. He can't—"
She turned to Nathalie, a hard look in her eyes. "He can't know!"
"Emilie—" Nathalie cut herself off as Emilie abruptly stood up and walked over to the safe behind the small painting on the wall. She hesitantly rose as well, ignoring the slight pain as her legs regained blood flow after kneeling for several minutes on end.
Emilie opened the safe and quickly with drew a blue broach Nathalie had only seen a few times before. "What do you know about miraculouses, Nathalie?" she asked.
Nathalie blinked. "I'm sorry?"
Emilie sighed and turned to face the assistant. "You remember our trip to Tibet five years ago?"
"Yes."
"While we were there, we discovered something called the miraculous. Magical pieces of jewelry that grant the wielder specific powers."
Nathalie raised and eyebrow as she watched Emilie mutter something and remove the little purple pin the she always wore over her heart. And then gasped when she saw a purple flash before the pin transform its shape, gaining for silver pieces that emerged from the center, form an "X". "H-how?" she stammered.
Emilie had a weak smile on her face. "Magic." She pinned the peacock broach she had pulled out of the safe to the place where the pin had been. Nathalie watched in amazement as there was a blue flash of light, and some sort of floating creature that vaguely resembled a peacock appeared. "Hello, Duusu."
Nathalie was not prepared for the thing to speak. "Emilie! Good to see you! How's Gabriel?"
Tears welled up in Emilie's eyes. The blue thing spoke again, much quieter and more somber this time. "Oh no, I can sense your distress." Then she — it?— began to cry. Loudly.
"I need you, Duusu." Emilie wiped her red, puffy eyes. "I need a sentimonster."
"What's a sentimonster?" Nathalie blurted, all sense of professionalism gone at that point.
Both Emilie and... Duusu started and turned towards her. "Oh, who's this?" Duusu asked.
"This is Nathalie. And I'll explain in a moment. For now, Duusu, spread my feathers!"
With another flash of blue, Nathalie's life changed forever.
The amok, as Nathalie soon learned it was called, was placed inside the picture frame still clutched in Emilie's hand. It was infused with special power to give the sentimonster all of Gabriel's emotions.
Suddenly, the forming sentimonster, which had been bubbling with dark energy, sparked and crackled before an exact likeness of Gabriel Agreste was formed.
Emilie smiled softly. "Now he is back." She stepped forward to greet her creation, but hunched over with a cough.
Nathalie rushed over to her. "Emilie? Are you okay?"
Emilie waved over to her. "I'm fine. What matters is that we succeeded." With that, she released her transformation.
Duusu eyed Gabriel. "I'm not sure, Emilie. Something doesn't feel right."
Emilie shook her head. "He's perfect."
In the years to come, it became clear that he wasn't perfect. It wasn't obvious at first, but as time passed, the sentimonster deviated further and further from his likeness. Where Gabriel had been stoic in public, the sentimonster refused to leave the house. Where Gabriel was warm and loving with his family, the sentimonster was cold and aloof. And yet he was still so similar. And it was so easy to forget.
But not for Emilie. At first she looked at the sentimonster with love in her eyes and a smile on her face, but gradually the light in her eyes dimmed the worse her relationship with him became.
To make matters worse, Emilie had gotten steadily worse in health. She hadn't used the peacock very many times over the years, but every time she did, her cough slowly overtook her. Until she was on her death bed.
Adrien was almost 13, and Nathalie worried for the boy. His father neglected him more often than not. His mother was extremely sick. The only friend he had was that spoiled Chloé girl.
She may not have ever had a child, but she swore that when the time came, she would make sure Adrien was cared for. She'd love him like her own. For the real Gabriel. For Emilie. For better or worse.
The day Emilie fell into the coma, Nathalie would never forget.
Emilie had called for her, and urged her to come close to her side.
Nathalie stiffened when Emilie took her hand and laid the peacock in it, closing Nathalie's fingers over the broach. "It may be broken, but it keeps Gabriel alive. Take care of it. Take care of them. Adrien needs a parental figure in his life. For better or worse."
"Emilie, I can't-" Nathalie protested.
"Please, Nathalie. For me."
Nathalie met her faded green eyes, which still stuck out against her paper white skin. This woman she had known for twenty years. And inside she knew she'd never be able to deny Emilie anything. So she nodded. "I promise."
Emilie smiled and closed her eyes.
She never opened them again.
And so Nathalie hid the peacock back inside the safe, only using it on special occasions. She watched as Gabriel became Hawkmoth. She watched as Adrien went to public school. She watched as the two of them drifted further and further apart.
She refused to stand back when Gabriel commanded her to stop. She made a promise to take care of them. She would protect them. She would love them. Adrien needed a parent. And she'd make sure he always had one. For the real Gabriel. For Emilie. For better or worse.