I Do Not Own Miraculous or Avatar.

Chapter Nine. The Florist's Assistant.

Ten days ago…

Hawkmoth blinked his eyes. He was decidedly… not in Paris. Cat Noir, who'd been in his grasp only moments before was nowhere to be seen. His partner was gone too. Instead his stood outside an ancient looking village located at the edge of the desert. An oasis of sorts.

"Dark wings, fall." He muttered. He transformed back into Gabriel Agreste. Nooroo appeared in front of him with a concerned expression.

"Where are we Nooroo?" Gabriel asked in an annoyed tone. The tiny Kwami flinched. He glanced around nervously.

"I don't know Master… This isn't our world." He admitted timibly.

"How? Might I ask? Did we wind up here?"

"Cat Noir did this." Nooroo replied, "He used Jinx. It's a forbidden magic. It must've brought us here."

"How do we get back?" Gabriel asked in a panic, immediately thinking of Adrien who he'd left behind. Nooroo looked even more terrified as he inched back a few feet.

"Uh… the Miraculous cure… but… uh… the Jinx power makes the enemy fail. If transporting you here is what it takes for Cat Noir and Ladybug to finally defeat you, then the chances of them actually being here with you is low… unless the Jinx power had something very different in mind. So, if Ladybug isn't actually here to use the Miraculous cure… well… master… I'm sorry…" Gabriel stared a Nooroo his normally stoic expression twisted into one of absolute grief.

"No. Nooroo. I have to go back! Adrien, Nathile, and Emilie. I can't leave them. Who will protect my son? And Nathile? How will she run the company without me? We have always run that company together. And Emilie! How will I get Emilie back if I'm stuck here?" Gabriel asked, "I've worked so hard… I can't just lose it all now, not when victory was literally in my grasp. I could have save her. I could have given Adrien everything. Now I can't do anything?"

"Gabriel." Nooroo said in a tiny voice, "You need to calm down." Gabriel froze, gaping at his Kwami in shock. The Kwami almost never called Gabriel by his first name.

"Master, I know this is a lot. Still, I would like the permission to speak a tad bolder to you. As a third party observer of your activities as Gabriel and Hawkmoth over the past few years, I have developed a few concerns and have observed a few things I do not realise you noticed." Nooroo requested. Gabriel glared at Nooroo, but said nothing. The Kwami took it as the permission to continue.

"In all this time I have served you, you have relentlessly fought to restore someone you lost. A cause many would deem noble. The problem is, your hunger to save Emilie had consumed you. It has turned you into the very thing you once fought against. I have been terrified to watch you change so drastically. You used to be a good man, but not anymore. Still, I served you with few objections though I knew what you were doing was wrong. I had no choice, but I knew your once intentions had once been pure. That is no excuse though. You've pushed one of the few people who truly loved you away. Because you were afraid to grieve. Afraid to give up on a fight that would have horrified your wife. There is nothing wrong in moving on sometimes. Emilie would have wanted it. She would want you and Adrien to be happy. If she knew how you tore Paris and yourself apart over her loss, then she would be completely disappointed." Gabriel clutched his fists, glaring at his Kwami. How dare Nooroo suggest giving up on Emilie? He didn't care if Nooroo and all of Paris called him a monster. He knew exactly what kind of person he was, but Emilie Agreste had to come back. She was the better one. She deserved more than he ever did. She was to have the world, and he was nothing compared to her. He had promised to save her. He had promised to restore the Peafowl Miraculous. She had never broken her promises. He did not plan on breaking his. Moving on was not an option. It was never an option. He'd find a way back if it was the last thing he did. Instead of lashing out at his Kwami and explaining the reason he fought, he took a shaky breath.

"How?" He said calmly, "Exactly do you expect me to give up my wife and son so easily?"

"I don't." Gabriel looked away. Confused on Nooroo's point and a tad annoyed with what he was suggesting.

"But Master, you have to recognize that tragedy does occur. There is nothing you can do to prevent it. All you can do is try and stay strong and keep on moving. I think it is fate that you became my master. You are the master of change and generosity. This means you must learn that change is hard and does happen. You've changed all of Paris. Whether it be for better or worse had yet to be revealed. Now comes the true challenge. Changing yourself."

"Oh, and I suppose your earlier remark about me changing into a villain doesn't pertain to your idea of change at all?" Gabriel snapped.

"Hawkmoths, like Cat Noirs, are often amongst the most tragic wielders. Cat Noir is normally a person who understands bad luck but still retains a pure heart. Hawkmoth is often a person who is going through a change in their lives. Hawkmoth's road is often difficult and hard for others to understand, but in the end, Hawkmoth often emerges as on of the greatest and most generous man or woman on the Miraculous team. With the Miraculous, there are rarely mistakes. The chosen are chosen for a reason. You have only begun your transformation Gabriel. There's still a very long way to go."

"And how will that take me back to my son?"

"There's no guarantee it will. You might never see Adrien again… but I know you can endure."

"He already lost his mother, Nooroo. He can't lose me."

"Gabriel… he already lost you." Nooroo whispered. Gabriel's heart sank. That couldn't be true, could it? He tried to recall the last time he spoke to his son. He couldn't. He lived in the same house as the boy, and he hadn't seen Adrien in person for several months. Nooroo… Nooroo was right. He hated it. But the obnoxious Kwami was right. This revelation shattered his world more than being in another world did. His expression became unreadable. His mind raced as he tried desperately to think of what to do.

"Nooroo. Please. Guide me."

Present.

Gabriel closed his eyes, sighing in annoyance. The past week and a half had been nothing but tedious. He'd changed his clothes to a purple and silver Kimono. He now lived in a small two bedroom home behind a flower shop with a man named Yung in the remote town Misty Palms Oasis. Yung had hired him on to help arrange flowers the second Yung realised Gabriel had an eye for color. Gabriel had no idea how the florist kept his business, being a flower shop owner at the edge of the desert. Still, Yung got customers daily.

At that moment, he and Yung were engaged in a rivioting game of Pai Sho. The game was set on a 18x18 disc and involved moving tiles strategically across it. The day Yung introduced Gabriel to it, he'd become hooked. His new hobby was reading the small Pai Sho strategy guide he'd purchased at the town tavern. He memorized the many moves and styles of the game in less than a day, becoming a pro in little to no time.

"Your move Gabriel." Yung said slyly. He flipped a white lotus tile between his fingers eagerly; a habit Gabriel noticed the man did a lot when he knew something Gabriel did not. Gabriel didn't understand why the older man held onto the tile, since the white lotus strategy was old and outdated. Either way, Gabriel sighed, almost certain his next move would be his last. He moved his piece, hoping the old man would buy his bluff.

"Wrong choice." Yung chuckled. Once more, Yung moved, beating Gabriel for the hundredth time.

"You must be cheating." Gabriel huffed.

"I've been playing this for years. You're still new at this." Yung cheerfully reminded him.

"I still believe you are cheating. That one move seemed a tad out of place." Gabriel said, leaning back with a scowl.

"We discussed this, Gabriel, That was a valid move. Now come on, we have work to do. Those flowers aren't going to arrange themselves and your eye for color is rival to my own."

"It comes from practice." Gabriel muttered.

"Yes, yes. I know all about your professional work in Ba Sing Se. But these are flowers, not clothes. No hurry up. Customers do not wait!" To say that stopping to the level of a poor florist's assistant was a humbling experience was a huge understatement. He was a successful designer, rising from nothing to success. Now he was going to be forever stuck arranging… flowers. Not only that, but everyone assumed he was far older than he actually was. Apparently, blonde didn't exist in that world, so everyone assumed he was in his fifties. Gabriel was only forty years old! To be mistook as a decade older was beyond insulting.

In all, the days had passed roughly. He dove into Pai Sho and work in hopes to get his mind off of his son and Paris. That didn't help him at night, since nightmares of his wife and son kept him up. Nooroo counseled him daliy, urging him to mourn their loss. Yet he simply couldn't. He had failed, and it was destroying him. Would Adrien and Paris even notice he was gone? Would they even know how hard he fought? How close he'd come? The thought of being forgotten terrified him. It unsettled him as much as his failure did. He was Gabriel Agreste. No one was to forget him. He wasn't supposed to give up or fail.

But he did.