Nathalie Sancoeur's secret past

A new visitor

"Father, do you remember the girl, who helped to find Marinette back in Shanghai? Fei?"

"Vaguely, why are you asking?", Gabriel wondered as his son stormed unannounced into his office.

"Because she is coming to Paris with Marinette's uncle!", Adrien exclaimed excitedly.

A sudden crash could be heard from Nathalie's desk and father and son flinched to then look what had happened.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, my coffee mug just slipped out of my hand!", the assistant said apologetically, "just go on, Adrien.

The teenager nodded and continued: "She will stay for about two weeks and I just wanted to ask, if I can skip a few of my classes, while she's here, if I double my efforts before and after? Like that we could all spend some time together!"

He looked at his father with pleading eyes.

Gabriel gazed over to Nathalie, as he usually did, but the assistant seemed strangely absent this afternoon.

The designer sighed.

"I don't know Adrien. Nathalie has just begun to work again, yet you asking for that, would mean, she had to reschedule all your tasks. I don't like that. She still needs her rest!"

Gabriel started to sound angry by now.

"Why don't you just let him skip his usual schedule completely and let him be a normal teenager for those two weeks? Sir!", Nathalie now interjected.

The tall grayish-blond man thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright, but I want you be with me or Nathalie, so maybe we should get the guestroom prepared and both girls can stay here for the time. Would this be a compromise, you can live with?"

The blond boy beamed widely and hugged first his father, then Nathalie enthusiastically. Then he ran out of the room, to call Marinette and tell her the news, not aware, that he would cause the girl to have a nervous breakdown at the mere thought of sleeping under the same roof as him.

The moment he was gone, Gabriel turned to Nathalie, questioning:

"What was that about?", he pointed at the shattered mug and the stains, "something about that girl always upsets you."

"I-It's nothing, Sir!", she replied, avoiding his eyes.

The concerned man got closer and laid a hand onto her forearm, to stop her from cleaning up her mess.

"Nathalie?", he now asked sternly.

She sighed.

"It's something from the time before we met back in Shanghai. I think, I knew the girl's mother and I am sure, that all the things she had to go through, were partly my fault. Wu Sifu taught me everything I know too. Like he did with this girl. The red strand...", she pointed at her hair, "all the young women, he taught to fight, dyed that one red strand into their hair as a sign, that they had finished their education. Only a few people can tell, that I have Chinese ancestors too, but... well.....I have. Though I was only there for like two years, because my grandfather, who was from Shanghai, insisted that I learned the Kung-Fu, he had learned, and everything that comes with it. Like being honest, modest, helpful all the things like that. He couldn't have known, what would happen to me, but that's a different story!"

The young woman was staring at the floor now.

Gabriel lifted her head up with two fingers, to make her look at him, when he noticed the tears.

Cupping her face with one hand, he whispered softly:

"Nathalie, what happened? Just tell me!"

But she just shook her head.

"I-I c-c-can't talk about th-that!", she sobbed and tried to free herself from his grasp. But Gabriel had a firm hold on her arm and pulled her to his chest, laying both arms around her, to let her cry.

"Whatever happened, my dear, you don't have to tell me. But stop trying to push me away. You suffered so much because of me, let me be there for you, okay? Why does it set you up so much, that this girl is coming to Paris? Even if you knew her mother and think you did something to her, don't you think, meeting the girl could help you to get over it?", he asked her very calmly.

Nathalie stopped her crying for a moment and stared at him.

"You don't get it!", she spat, "I didn't just know her mother, I am the one, who gave birth to her!"

Then she just broke down completely. If Gabriel hadn't been holding her, she would have just collapsed to the floor, caught in the agony of her memory from what that man had done to her back then.

The designer tried to reason with her.

"Nathalie, you are barely older than thirty and that girl is seventeen as far as I know. Do you really think, she is your...", he gulped, "...daughter?"

Barely audible , her voice hoarse, Nathalie gushed out:

"I was fourteen, when that man came into my bed in Wu's school and he.... well, you can imagine..... I gave birth to her, when I was fifteen and right after I left her in front of Wu sifu's door, I came back to France and tried to forget!"

The woman was now crying vigorously again and Gabriel felt completely helpless.

"Nathalie, my dear Nathalie, I am so sorry, I shouldn't even have asked. I can't imagine, how you must feel right now. And I was so stupid, to invite her here. I will tell Adrien immediately to..."

This time Nathalie interrupted him.

"No, don't. I-I would like to s-s-see her. I-It wasn't her fault after all. I-I just fell so....she had to live on the streets because of me, Gabriel!", she blurted out and buried her face into his shoulder.

"You're incredible!", he told her and kissed the top of her head. "The way you still love that girl, yes I could tell, don't give me that look, you of all people know, that I am not as cold and emotionless, as I pretend to be", he said with a smirk, when she gave him 'that' look. "And after all that, you trusted me, 'me', enough, to sleep in my bed without being scared. Damn it Nath, we even slept together for several times and you never told me!"

"Well, I trust you, Gabriel and you never hurt me! On purpose!"

He stared at her in disbelief.

Then he bent down and just kissed her. Passionately.