Indecision is Hurtful

Chapter Fourteen

Eventually, after ceasing Gabriel's loving kisses, he resorted to sitting next to her this time, with his plate transferred next to hers. This was to be expected of a man who has known grief as a constant acquaintance. He becomes clingy and abrogates his usual demeanor. Not that anyone was complaining. Even Plagg thought it was for the best that he acted this way. He wasn't ignoring anyone's feelings, he has become more open, and he was becoming himself again.

"So, Marinette and Adrien, you weren't supposed to remember the wish and everything that happened," they both nodded.

"Well, apparently, the price for us remembering the whole event was your own memory. But like that poem said- extract- passage- whatever it was, it gave us a clue that no wish just stays as what we intended them to be. There are these... unopened doors. Not locked, just closed," Marinette explained.

"Forget to remember, remember without wanting to forget.
Memories stir to wake at the right nudge on the shoulder, a heedless pat.
Hold them dearly, allow them to be let free.
Take them in exchange for one over anything.

Sounds rather specific, no?" Gabriel mused tugging at her sleeve playfully in a subtle manner.

"Like I said to Mr. Gabriel before, I eavesdropped on my owner and another monk- yeah I know that's a bad thing to do for us kwamis," she quickly apologized seeing Plagg and Tikki's reactions. "So, I found out that this refers to something that's driven one to act as such. You brought back my precious, sweet, loving, adorable, sexy-"

"Ah ha ha ha. We get it Duusu," Nathalie laughed awkwardly, immediately sliding her cup of coffee towards her as to beg her to stop giving her embarrassing descriptions.

Duusu dove into the cup, head first but immediately surfaced with a tiny burp.

"As I was saying, you brought her back with the driving force of your love and longing towards her. It was your sole purpose and the wish was directed for Gabriel to undo his mistake. It should have done just that. He- apart from us kwamis- was going to be the only one to remember that very vivid dream. But something took a turn for the better. Marinette and Adrien remembered. But in turn, you didn't even know who Hawkmoth was as a civilian when he's already more than a year being a vil- being Hawkmoth!"

"So Duusu and I's theory is that love and longing made you forget but provided you life. In exchange for Adrien and Marinette's memories, you lost a fragment of yours but we know they're still there. Now, in order for them to surface back up, something must be exchanged with the previous two driving forces I've mentioned. Something from my master's own emotions."

"My denial and... my fear," he kissed the back of her hand earning a loving smile.

"So... his emotions... at what happened at Adrien's room earlier... the way Adrien reacted with his concern and Miss Nathalie's dizzy spell or something that followed suit... It must be because Adrien had the same fear as he did, right?" Plagg asked.

"Yes. Correct. But my Miss Nathalie didn't have the same weakened state. Unlike when she experienced the same frantic fear in Mr. Gabriel. She was losing her breath and all that stuff. His reactions affected her greatly at first but when he released his denial by confessing he was actually scared, it didn't hurt her as much as before. Some of the memories were being stuffed back in her a little gently than when she got them amidst someone's panic attack.

Remember how you guys gave back energy to her when you wished for her back? You were assuaging her burden, the wish slowly taking out her memories as gentle as possible when you wished for her with such love. But in turn, to get back her memories, you would unknowingly let fear make known in you which would cause her to be in a panic attack similar with yours, the memories being pushed down on her the hard way this time.