Dressing up

warning: tears

"Amelie is going to ask us questions, Adrien." Marinette began their awkward conversation after the afternoon fencing. "And we need to agree if we tell her anything." She looked at him and knew this was going to be hard.

"About Emilie and … Felix." He nodded. It was hard for him to accept that his cousin was a sentimonster. "I … would prefer to tell them nothing." He actually preferred not to talk about it at all so this was the most comfortable solution.

"But we were there, Adrien, they both know most of the things that happened from the Ladyblog and the other news. I think we should tell her everything. She deserves to know everything that happened." She countered. They were going to her room to discuss this in peace.

Adrien stared at her for a long time and blinked, then he turned away and looked into the distance, or just the empty space before him, he remembered the last time he saw the body of his mother, if he had a brother, he'd like to know what happened to him. He nodded.

"Since we checked the Ladyblog, Ling did not stream the whole attack, nor did anybody else, there are just a few parts and photos, so the world doesn't know about Felix." She sighed. "It would have been awful. So if they don't bring it up, we stay quiet on that."

"Good, don't talk about Felix." He nodded, of course he agreed, just scratch everything off from the list as far as he was concerned. He also did not want to mention that his mother used to wield the peacock miraculous nor that she got sick because she did so.

"There is a part of his speech about making a wish to bring his love back. I think Amelie has the right to know everything about her sister and why he did it." Marinette decided. "Including the part that she wielded the peacock miraculous." She added the painful part.

Adrien remained completely silent. He did not want to think about that, let alone to talk about it, and with his aunt Amelie and Felix of all people, talking about that was painful, not that he was talking at all, he just listened to her and he felt nauseous.

"We are not telling about Felix being a sentimonster. The question is, do we tell Amelie that Emilie …" Marinette was searching for the right word. "… that she got sick because she wielded the peacock miraculous that was broken."

"Amelie might know then that mum got sick because of Felix." Adrien concluded. That thought made him dislike his cousin, he might have resented the existence of his cousin if Marinette did not reason with him that it was Emilie's decision after all.

"We don't know if that is true, Adrien." Marinette replied after a few moments of silence. She suddenly had an idea. "We don't know what your father did with her when he akumatized her. And he did it a lot, according to her diary."

"But it must be the broken miraculous that she used that made her ill." He countered. "It was what Hawk Moth had said, right? It was the broken miraculous, I even remember how Nathalie sometimes coughed or got dizzy spells … I was so oblivious."

"And she used it to create things for him too. Now think about it." She beamed, although what she was about to say was gloomy, she was excited about having the idea. Because she thought she had an idea how it actually happened.

"My father used my mother" Adrien spoke in quiet anger. "he infected her with butterflies to create an akuma, she transformed to create animated objects for him and she got ill from all of that. He claims he loved her, but he destroyed her."

"And he knew what he did after the fact, that drove him mad so he wanted to fix it by bringing her back." Marinette concluded. "I lost you so many times in akuma battles, I'd know the feeling." She looked to the side, they were standing on her rooftop terrace.

"Oh." Adrien grabbed his wrist, the one where the snake miraculous was that one time when he was Aspik. He looked at his hands. "I guess I know the feeling too." Then he looked towards her, she turned, noticed the way he held his wrist and then jumped towards him and hugged him.

That Friday afternoon, Amelie made a list. Officially, she was there to protect the family assets, the Graham de Vanily family assets. After a few busy days with Andre and help from Audrey, they still have not made a deal. Amelie wanted the full control, Andre wanted the city to get compensation.

As her family was the major stakeholder in the company, she was able to easily make the company worthless, it was going down anyway, so that would not be even seen as any kind of manipulation. But that was just something she did on the side, while having endless meetings with Audrey.

Then there was the issue of the mansion that was currently regarded as a crime scene. She did not care about the house as much as the secrets it held, she wanted to know everything that happened to her sister over there, everything she did not pay attention to before.

She knew the official version of the story, the investigation was ongoing, but she wanted to know more, she needed to hear more from Adrien and Marinette, everything that happened in the temple, everything that Gabriel said. And she wanted the ring.

"Adrien, Marinette, you were both there, in the temple, and I know what you told the authorities, but could you tell me what happened, I am her sister." Amelie asked after she made Felix busy with something on the other side of the restaurant of Le Grand Paris.

Marinette let the boy hold her hand, they were ready for this, as much as anyone was ever ready for such a conversation, they had to tell her, they saw how hungry she was for any information at all that they were able to give.

"He … he said things about mum. "Adrien spoke slowly. "And you and … " Marinette squeezed his hand firmly, he should not tell that they knew Felix was a sentimonster. They looked at each other, they were not sure how much they should say, everything, nothing or some place in between.

"He mentioned that Emilie used that funny brooch of hers to conduct funny experiments in that funny basement of theirs?" Amelie asked with a knowing smile. Yes, she knew what her sister was doing and she was ready to admit that much to the two people who obviously already knew.

"Gah … um … yes?" Adrien was looking for words and sounded remarkably like Marinette when she was trying to talk to him just a month ago. "So you knew?" There was an implication in his tone, if she knew about Emilie, then she might have known that Hawk Moth was his father.

"You didn't." Amelie concluded. It was a matter of a fact, she knew they did not know before, it was obvious in the accusing tone that the boy just used on her, the way their eyes went wide, yes she knew, if she wanted information, she had to come clean.

Both teens shook their heads.

A waiter passed, a boy returned, Amelie needed him away, Felix was sent away again, but this time to negotiate something with Chloe and just as Amelie anticipated, the boy was taken and asked to sit beside the heiress. She had time to discuss whatever she wanted.

"We only learned in the temple when he … took us to his lair and started to talk. I didn't know that place existed in the mansion." Adrien explained. Of course he knew before the final battle, it was obvious he knew and the video went live.

"Okay, so on Tuesday you said to the police investigator that she was in some sort of a coma and they kept her in the temple." Amelie continued although it was obvious that those words were painful for her to speak.

Both teens nodded. She looked at them expectantly. It took some time for them to realize that confirming what she already knew was not sufficient for Amelie, she wanted more and she was going to get it, they needed to give her something.

"Um, yes, you see, her body did not show any life signs … they said … he said … modern medicine would have proclaimed her dead … and she became that way because of some magic … so I thought … " He looked at Marinette.

"She has better chances in the temple because here, she would probably have none." The girl concluded and looked back at Adrien. And the temple held magic of its own and if anyone knew magic it was the monks in the temple and … but they were not able to say that.

Amelie swallowed whatever she felt about the words she just heard and their meaning. She shuddered at the thought, well at everything that run through her head as she processed those words. But then she remembered how Adrien got to see Emlie, at least he had that.

"I just wish … I just wish I was there to see her, you know … just like you were, I'd like to go there, you know, for a visit, and see her, soon, I just can't leave Felix on his own here … " She glanced towards her son on the other end of the restaurant.

Marinette reached for Adrien's hand and held it firmly, they both knew they had a way to organize that, in fact they might just do that, and soon, really soon. They needed to have some faith in this woman, not to leave her in the dark, she might know something they needed too.

"Anyway, what do you know about how she became … that way?" Amelie continued her gentle interrogation. She knew it was going to be painful for the kids to tell her as much or even more than for her to hear, but she needed to know.

"Well, I remember how she often coughed and had dizzy spells and was becoming tired all the time." Adrien replayed the events in his head. He felt how his throat tightened and his vision became blur, then Marinette passed him a tissue and he realized he was crying.

"Don't worry dear." Amelie reached over the table with her hand and held his other hand after he wiped his tears. "You don't have to talk about it if it hurts so much. I was wandering if he … said anything … about how she became that way."

"He blamed the magic of the miraculous, he said that it was broken and that he fixed it later." Marinette replied as good as she dared, she avoided to mention which miraculous was blamed and which one was broken. "Anyway, those were his words if we can trust them."

"I need to know … I need to know if he blamed … If he thought that … " Amelie's eyes flicked towards Felix on the other end of the restaurant. She was not able to pronounce the words yet, she was not able to tell them that. But they both noticed she struggled.

There was silence when each of the three of them looked away from the group, none of them was able to speak the words and admit the most horrifying thing all three of them now knew was a fact all of them still refused to believe it was true.

"Gabriel was ready to blame anyone for what happened to my mother." Adrien finally spoke quietly. "But I think, in the end, he was more responsible for the state she was in than anyone else." The boy concluded determined to believe that he should not blame Amelie or Felix.

Amelie looked at the boy, but her eyes looked as if she was a hundred years old, such was the weight, the burden she carried upon her soul. Because deep down she knew, she remembered what her sister did for her and she blamed herself and her own happiness for her sister's misfortune.

"You shouldn't feel guilty." Marinette spoke quietly, she dared to speak because she knew what she saw and she knew she had to try and mend this before it blows up in their faces. "They were using the miraculous and whatever they did with it, it was their decision, not yours." She smiled.

Amelie nodded, of course this child did not know what they all did, she was able to speak that way because that girl did not carry the guilt and the responsibility of her own sister scarifying her health and even life to sustain something that became her son.

"Sometimes … " Amelie spoke in hoarse voice so she cleared her throat. "The people we care for also care for us so much that they tend to do stupid things, they want to make a sacrifice for us, to do something for us that asks too much on their side. It is our duty to prevent them from doing so."

At that moment Marinette gripped Adrien's hand tightly. She remembered rather vividly how many times he threw himself between her and the danger and got hit and she knew how she felt about that how much it hurt her to watch that, fortunately she had the power to bring him back.

"You kids, here in Paris, you know so much about the magic, everyone is such a big fan of Ladybug and Chat Noir … even of you two after what you've done in that temple." She smiled gently.

They took turns as they shrugged then nodded and looked at each other.

"Whenever there was an akuma battle … whatever happened … whoever got physically hurt by magic … they defeated the akuma and cleaned that butterfly and then Ladybug did some magic and it restored everyone back." Amelie inhaled sharply, she needed to tell them this.

"If Ladybug and Chat Noir find … whatever made Emilie become that way … do you think they could … restore her?" Her eyes flicked towards Felix again and they clearly saw a tear roll down her face.

"Ladybug did restore that temple in China." Marinette replied quickly instead of a yes. But Adrien griped her hand firmly. "After she launched her cure … after they defeated a sentimonster … that destroyed it?" She knew that was common knowledge by now.

"So she could?" Amelie inhaled a shaky breath. They could both see the guilt, the pain, the fact that the woman thought she had to choose between her son and her sister. "And they destroyed the … sentimonster?" She pronounced the last word in high pitch.

"They would first need to learn what caused mother to become so ill." Adrien spoke in a hoarse voice. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, they have to do research and then they need to know, there is no way of knowing now what they would have to do."

Amelie nodded quickly. There was still hope that she was not going to have to give up on one thing, well it was a person, that was the most precious to her, and that was her son, well the son that Emilie, her sister, had given to her, had made for her.

"The person who made that sentimonster, the one that destroyed the temple in Tibet" Marinette spoke with a smile. "They probably lived a long and healthy life, you know, so it is not like using magic kills you or makes you sick."

Adrien smiled gently at her, he knew that was the truth, he knew what master Fu did and for how long he has been living and the man was definitely healthy for that age (who lived that long anyway?) but the miraculous was not broken when he created the monster.

"You should talk to Ladybug and Chat Noir." Adrien smiled. "They could tell you what they know, they probably have questions for you too." And they could get more answers from his aunt and compare notes and, huh, did he dare hope to bring his mother back?

"How do I … How does one contact them and asks for an interview?" Amelie inquired. There was something in the way she looked at them, she suspected the heroes were in contact with her nephew somehow, maybe, because those two kids took the miraculous?

"You could try the Ladyblog," Marinette stated simply, she had an answer ready. "Simply make a small request, I'm sure the heroes are still following what is going on there." Adrien smiled and nodded eagerly, he admired his lady, she always had a plan.

"Of course, thank you." Amelie smiled again. There was hope and determination in her eyes, they knew she was going to do that soon. Felix had returned from his conversation with Chloe and the dinner was about to be served.