Victory?

The truth

"Forgive me" Gabriel was stood in the hall in a grey winter jacket

"No."

"Nathalie please I-" He pleaded

"No."

"Just listen"

"Fine, you have ten seconds"

"Nathalie, I love you. And I know you feel the same way. Just give me a second chance"

"You have a wife"

Gabriel sighed.

"I realised something, when someone dies, you only remember the good in them. You try to ignore the bad and that's exactly the mistake I made with Emilie. She wasn't the person I use to know but do you know who isn't a mistake?"

"Who" Nathalie crossed her arms, pretending not to care

"You. I have no idea what I would do without you, you're more than just an assistant to me. I realised that earlier but I just didn't want to believe it"

"Do you really love me?" Nathalie asked

"Why would I be here if not for you?"

Her gaze met his. 

"I do but I understand if you hate me and never want to see me ever ag-"

Nathalie stopped him and leaned in closer. Her lips met his. It was quick but none the less very relieving.

"Marry me" Gabriel smiled "marry me and make me the happiest man alive"

"What about Emilie?"

Gabriel pauses for a second, unsure what to say. He yearned to be with Nathalie but Emilie was blocking the way.

"I'll divorce her, you can move into mthe mansion. I'm sure Adrien would love a brother or sister"

"There's a problem... I'm dying"

"What?!"

"But, you looked fine earlier"

"I guess I was just good at hiding it..." Nathalie lowered her head

———————————————
Nathalie sipped on her tea as her and Tikki tried to explain everything to Gabriel for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I don't understand. I traded Nathalie's life for Emilie when I made the wish?"

Nathalie held Gabriel's hand, reassuring him "I just need to find a way to reverse this" she gave a warm smile

"The cure is a bit harder than 'making it' just so you know" Tikki explained "You and Nathalie need to be in the same place you made the wish and say the same thing you said before, simple"

"What do we tell Adrien?"

"I've kept him in the dark too long, I'm going to have to come clean and tell him" Gabriel stated

———————————————

Gabriel shut the door behind him as he entered the foyer.

"Ah Gabe, you're finally home, I-" Emilie's jaw dropped as soon as she saw who was standing beside him

"Why is she here." Emilie said bluntly

"Nathalie will be staying here for a while, she is officially re-hired. Now if you don't mind, we have some important work to do"

Nathalie smirked as she walked up the stairs, hand in hand.

"Adrien's a good kid, I'm sure he'll understand" Nathalie reassured him

They entered Adrien's room and he was ecstatic "Nathalie! You're back, I missed you so much" Adrien dropped his Xbox controller, running over to Nathalie and hugging her tightly

"I missed you too" Nathalie brushed her hand through the boys golden locks

Gabriel cleared his throat, breaking up the hug "Adrien... son, we need to have a talk"

Adrien stood there confused as Gabriel shut the door, giving them privacy.

"What did you want to tell me father? I just want you to know that no matter what, I'll always love you"

"Lets just wait until I tell you, then you can decide" Gabriel muttered

Adrien felt confused. What could his father possibly have to say. Gabriel held out his hand, inside was the black cat miraculous.

"I'm sorry Adrien..."

No words could describe the look on Adrien's face, it was a mix of anger, sadness, disappointment yet a bit of happiness because he was being reunited with his kwami friend, Plagg.

"Plagg, I missed you so much"

"I'm so sorry Adrien. It all started in Tibet when me and you're mother found two miraculous, we didn't realise they were magic until a while later. You were only young but Emilie started creating sentimonsters for work, she would use them to go to meetings for her ect. What we didn't realise was that it was broken, when you're mother died I made a wish to bring her back but now she's back... she's just not the person I remember. I understand if you hate me." Gabriel blurted out, almost too quick to properly hear

"I don't hate you but what you're saying is, you're hawkmoth?"

"Yes" Gabriel said disappointed in himself

"Who was Mayura then?"

Gabriel looked over to Nathalie who was stood at the door "Me" she said hesitantly

"But you must have known what it was doing to you... like mum"

"Nathalie's... stubborn. She'll do anything for the people she cares about"

"If she stopped using the miraculous then why is she still coughing?"

"You noticed..."

"It wasn't exactly hard, one minute she was fine, the next she was on the floor"

Gabriel sighed, he really hadn't spent much time with his son recently.

"So how do we make Nathalie better?"

"We?"

"My family is in trouble, I'm going to help"

Gabriel hugged his son, Adrien's eyes widened in surprisement before they shut, cherishing the moment.

"We have to reverse the wish. We have to do it soon, otherwise it'll be too late" Gabriel explained as they separated

To be continued ♡