Future Tales of the Miraculous

Chapter 19

The warm, chuckling hum of Emelie's voice tickled in Adrien's ear when he hugged her.  The blonde teen smiled, tightening his arms around the flaxen haired woman even more.  His mother's return still felt like a dream.  As he embraced his mother, the familiar scent of her floral perfume, her reassuring voice, the emerald eyes that looked at him with adoration all made Adrien's heart warm and ache at the same time.  At times, a dreadful suspicion that this was just a cruel figment of his imagination crossed him, and when it did he always resolved that he'd never want to wake and face reality again. 

Emelie had been home for almost a year now, recovering in the care of the family estate.  The possibility of a full recovery was still unknown, but the woman seemed content in simply being alive, awake, and in control of her own body again.  Even if it was relegated to a wheelchair, it was real freedom all the same.  It seemed as though the ones around her relied on her calming demeanor more than she relied on them for support in her recovery.  A few moments later, her son finally released the vise like grip on her, allowing her to sit back into her seat. 

"How is school, dear?" She watched his emerald eyes light up from the question.

"It's been really great, mother!  I can see how you fell in love with acting.  Portraying a completely different person, getting into character, bringing a story to life," Adrien described his classes wistfully.

The young man was finishing his first year at Cours Florent, a revered private school for performing arts, in hopes of following his mother's professional footsteps as both a model and actor. 

"You should bring Marinette with you next time, perhaps for dinner.  I would love to get to know her, and I'm sure Duusu would love to catch up with Tikki," Emelie mentioned, sharing a hopeful grin with her floating azure kwami. 

"What am I, chopped liver here?" Plagg snickered at Duusu's excited response from Tikki's mention. The tiny, azure peacock rolled her eyes at the sulking black cat.

Adrien scratched his head, keeping his frowning gaze towards the floor.  "I would if I could, Mére. Mari's been excited, albeit a little nervous, to meet you. But she and I, we.... it's too soon."
When Adrien looked up, he saw that she matched his frown.

"Are you sure you don't want me to move back in? I could...." Adrien began, collecting his jacket from the wall.

"Dear, we've already spoken about this. All I want for you is to live your own life. For you to come into your own, not to be held back by this place. I'm well taken cared of here; your father sees to it."

Adrien internally grisled at his father's mention. He was the reason Marinette couldn't find herself willing to step foot into this house.  The same reason Adrien did not extend his visits for very long as to avoid seeing the man.  If it weren't for his mother, Adrien would stay away from the estate altogether. 

Carefully planted footsteps coming from the grand entrance's stairs stole their attention away from each other.  With his left leg plagued with a limping gait and supported by a cane similar to Hawk Moth's weapon, Adrien's father emerged from his work studio to join his wife and visiting son.  Although Emelie could forgive her husband, It would be hard fought to be won from their son.

Gabriel wrapped one arm around Emelie's shoulder, kissing her on the forehead before turning to address his son.  Before he could speak, Adrien stepped towards the door, tugging his jacket straight. 

"I should go now, I've gotta get ready for the wedding.  I'll return soon, Mother," the teen quickly spoke up, casting her one last warm smile. 

He turned to his father, his smile faded to a grim hard line, and returned a blank stare at the man's sullen expression before slipping past the entrance doors.  The only redeeming feature the man held in Adrien's eyes was that he willfully relinquished all claims to Nooroo after that fateful night.  Hawk Moth was no more; instead of terrorizing Paris, the fawn haired fashion designer took a work hiatus to focus on caring for his wife.  Emelie peered up at her husband with an empathetic frown, taking his hand into hers.