Episode 5: Yin and Yang

Sophie was smiling as she looked down at the funny cat photo Emma just sent her.

"Sophie?"

She looked up at her amused mom smiling at her, coffee in hand, "Louis Agreste?"

"Emma Agreste, actually," Sophie replied putting up her phone down and giving her mother her undivided attention.

"Right," Chloé commented sipping her coffee, "Emma is back. You know you need to tell her visit me. I'm her godmother after all."

Sophie looked surprised at this, "Really?"

Chloé smirked, "A little promise me and Adrien made. He was my best friend from childhood. He was your godfather…."

Silence filled the table for a moment. Sophie didn't remember much of Adrien Agreste. But she did remember him visiting once when she, her father, and mother were living in London for a short time. She remembered his bright green eyes and wide smile. They looked just like Emma's.

"Enough of that though," Chloé said, "This is mother-daughter brunch. Tell what you've been up to this week. "

"Well, I got done Christmas shopping this week," Sophie explained as she picking at the pancakes on her plate, "you know how I am about gifts. It takes forever to find gifts I want to give to people. Louis and Emma were the ones that took forever this year."

Chloé did indeed know how she was. Sophie had a hard time with were words and tried her best to express with actions, "Speaking of gifts, what did you Emma for her birthday?"

Sophie blinked, "What?"

"Emma's birthday. You know. It's December 13th," her mother explained, "I mean you get all your friends insane birthday gifts too."

"December 13th?!" Sophie looked at her phone, "Mom that's today!"

Chloé looked at her phone as well, "wow, it is. Good thing I sent that card a couple days ago. But your acting like you didn-" before she could finish Sophie was out of her chair running into to her room, phone to her ear yelling at Louis to meet her at the mall.

"We could have at least finished brunch!"

…

"So how long are you keeping me out of the house?" Emma asked her grandmother as she sipped her water.

Nathalie Sancouer-Agreste flipped through her menu again, "So, you know about the party Hugo wants to throw?"

"I love my baby brother but I am not an idiot," the girl replied simply, "asking me what I wanted for my birthday, on top of my favorite cake flavor, favorite dinner, colors. Etc. The flags were there."

Nathalie hnnmed and looked down at the menu, "Understandable and your to be back by 5 according to Sabine. Your lucky they talked Hugo out of a big party and into keep it just a family affair."

Emma sighed. She didn't want to celebrate her birthday. She never did. Why celebrate being another year older when your parents couldn't see it? If she wasn't here to celebrate it with her.

"Emma, your making your self-loathing face stop those thoughts," her step-grandmother scolded.

"I wasn't-" Emma started but was cut off.

"Emma Alexandra Nathalie Agreste, don't lie to me," Nathalie ordered as she narrowed her eyes.

"Yes ma'am," the teenager gave up as she looked down at her phone waiting for a reply to the text sent to Sophie.

"You're certainly preoccupied with your phone," the woman mused, "gotten yourself a girlfriend already?"

This caused Emma to blush then sigh, "It's not what you think, Grandmère."

"You said the same thing with that last girl you dated….what was her name? Tyler May?"

"Taylor Jay," Emma corrected, "and this isn't like that."

"How so?"

"Well Taylor wasn't dating my brother for one."

"Um…," the waitress looked awkwardly at the two, "should I come back?"

"No, I'm starving," Emma's grandmother repiled, "I would like the chicken salad please. Emma?"

The girl looked embarrassed from the waitress to her menu, "the club sandwich with chips."

The waitress nodded then quickly left.

They sat silently for a moment before Nathalie broke it, "so, you, I'm guessing, like Louis's girlfriend?"

The black haired girl started drawing invisible shapes on the table, "Her name is Sophie Léon and didn't know she was dating Louis at first."

Nathalie looked surprised, "Chloé Bourgeois's daughter?"

Emma laughed harshly, "Yeah. I'm a horrible person, gaining feelings for someone in a committed relationship. Especially when that person is my little brother. "

The grandmother looked softly at her granddaughter, "Am I the first person you talked to about this?"

Emma thought about the sleeping kwami she spilled her guts out to in her pocket asleep, "besides a couple of cats? Yeah."

Nathalie sighed, "Emma, I wish I could say that those feelings for Sophie may go away and it could. It really could. But it may not."

The Agreste girl looked surprised at her grandmother, "This is not going were I thought it was."

Nathalie shrugged, "I'm speaking from experience. I had a very….complicated relationship with your grandparents, Gabriel and Emilie."

Emma flinched at the mention of their names.

"I loved them both. Very deeply. So I told myself I wouldn't get in the way," the women looked into her water, "I tried to get over my feelings. The problem? They never left. Ever. Even after they married and had your father. It just didn't ever leave."

That was rather depressing, "You married Grandpère eventually though."

"After your grandmother died. And it took forever for Gabriel to realize he loved me. Hell, your father realized it before him," Nathalie explained fondly recalling the memory.

"Grandmère was there a moral to the story?" The seventeen year old asked confused, "Cause I'm honestly just confused now."

Nathalie coughed a little and adjusted her glasses, "The point was more or less Agreste have odd love stories. Your grandfather and I and don't get me started on your parents. Your not awful for having feelings for someone and just cause she's taken now, doesn't mean she will remain out of your reach forever. Don't write off your feelings yet. That being said Emma." Nathalie pulled out a bag. "Happy Birthday."

The girl gave a weak smile, "Every year. I keep saying no presents. "

"I'm making up for not getting your dad presents on his birthday," Nathalie admitted.

Emma took the present eyebrow raised, "I find that hard to believe with how much you and Grandprère loved dad and talked about him."

"That's a long story, Emma."

Rolling her eyes, the teenager opened the bag to pull out a new sketch pad and colored pencils, "Thanks. Maybe I can actually come up with good designs."

"Gabriel will continue on whether or not you became the head designer," the dark haired woman explained sipping her water, "Honestly, I just want a new sunset painting from your. Your a good artist."

Emma looked down at the sketch pad she had a thought, "Speaking of designers. Grandmère Sabine mentioned you have most of Mom's old books. I was wondering if you have the one I'm looking for. It has some superheroes sketches in it."

Nathalie looked surprised and seemed to look over Emma stopping as her eyes ran over Emma's hands them blinked, "I might. I have to see. Why the sudden interest?"

"You know, new heroes and stuff. I'm going to the bathroom, be right back!" With that Emma left Nathalie alone. Or so she thought.

A soft voice from her purse broke the woman's raging thoughts.

"Miss Natahlie?"

"I know, Dusuu. I know."

Author's Note

The one thing about my cold is I'm getting more writing done. So, we finally see Nathalie after all these years. Cool Imma right? and she still has Dusuu. Red flags am I right? Next two to three "episodes" will take place in December. But, yeah Emma's birthday is December 13. Unlucky 13 for our black cat here.

personal note my computer keeps trying to auto-correct Nathalie to Natalie.

Next Chapter? Sophie's crazy shopping habits.

Review please and see you next time.