Gabriel followed Fu into the back room, apprehensive about what was about to happen. He was about to get his wish. Iris would be home with them again. Their family could start to repair itself, and hopefully Adrien could move on from everything that happened. Even if he couldn't, he would have someone to support him like he never had.

He drew the ring and earrings from his pocket once they were settled in the room. "So, how do I do this?" he asked.


Adrien leaned into her hug but didn't say a word. His eyes were planted firmly on the door Fu and his father had disappeared behind. Would this really work? What if it didn't? Would his father get even worse or would he give in and let it go?

He sighed. "Your ideas have never been wrong," he murmured quietly.

She squeezed him. "It has to work..."

Fu just laughed slightly. "You have to put them on. The earrings will become clips on if you don't have your ears pierced." He sat down in the corner of the room. "Then Tikki and Plagg will go inside their items and you will be able to make your wish. Chose your words wisely."

Gabriel nodded and slipped the ring onto his finger. It must have changed sizes at some point because he doubted he and Adrien had the same ring size. A quick inspection of the earrings confirmed what Fu had said. They now had clips that easily gripped his ears. The transformation happened quickly, giving him a costume similar to a black suit with red and black spotted accents. Not that he cared about the costume at this particular moment. The wish was more important.

He took a deep breath and whispered, "I wish my wife, Iris Agreste, would return."

A rush of magic flowed through the room as the wish went into effect. It swirled for a moment as it tried to grant the wish. The magic died down, returning to him as the wish ended and he detransformed. He glanced around the room and found Fu was the only person there. The wish had failed.

Fu narrowed his eyes as Gabriel made his wish. He felt a strange burst of energy breaking. He started to stroke his beard. Could it be? He then brought his attention back to the magic in the room. He studied it closely and after it faded away. It was the two of them in the room. Fu looked puzzled. The wish worked. The magic was a bright pink color when it faded away.

He stood up and walked over to Gabriel. He held out his hands for the miraculouses. "It appears you didn't chose your words wisely. Your wife is back, but she's somewhere else."

Gabriel quietly removed the miraculouses and handed them to Fu. Somewhere else? But where could she be? What other definition of the word 'return' could the wish use that would not bring Iris here? He didn't realize he had to be that specific...

"I see..." he muttered. "Where could she be?"

"I'm not sure," Fu said. He had a hunch, but he wasn't sure if he should tell Gabriel or not. He was worried he would end up being wrong. "But she will returned home soon, trust me. She's safe, Gabriel. Your wish will protect her."

Gabriel relaxed slightly at his words. She was safe, wherever she was. That was the most important part. None of this had been in vain. Still... How was this going to look to Adrien? Would he think all of this was for nothing, or would he trust that she was safe and on her way home?  

"I guess we should go back to Marinette and Adrien.."

Fu felt both Plagg and Tikki on his shoulders as Gabriel spoke. They were drained from the wish. It would take them a couple of days to recover. He just nodded his head and led them out the door and the returned to the living room.

"We're back," Fu said and handed back both Adrien's and Marinette's miraculous and kwami.

Marinette looked down at Tikki. She was fast asleep. She gently placed her in her bag. She looked up and was confused. Where was Adrien's mother? Her sank did the wish not work? Was she dead? 

Fu just smiled at the both of them. He could tell what was on their minds. "She's back, but somewhere else. She's safe and should return soon."

"Why didn't the wish bring her here?" Marinette asked.

"Magic can be really picky with wording unfortunately."

Adrien watched silently as Fu and his father exited the back room with no sign of his mother.  It didn't work... So she probably was dead...

He remained silent when he took Plagg and the miraculous from Fu (relieved to have both back) and listened to the conversation as he scratched a sleeping Plagg behind the ear.  Doing so calmed his nerves, and he had figured out a while ago that his kwami enjoyed it, even though Plagg would never truly admit it.  In fact, it made the sleeping kwami curl up in his palm with a subconscious purr.

He didn't get to ask why his father's wording didn't work before Gabriel let out a sigh. "I'm going to go back to work.  I'll call Ray to come drive you two."  

With that, his father quickly showed himself out.  Which was probably a good thing even if he doubted his father was going to focus on work.  The car ride home with him would have been unbearable on many levels.

"So... How does someone mess up the wording for something like this...?"  He couldn't help but ask.  After close to two years of fighting, he would have thought his father would choose his words more carefully.

Fu just stared at Adrien. His mind was nagging him about telling the truth. He was slowly believing his hunch more. "I cannot explained this. Magic is a mystery. Perphas if your father knew where she was it could of helped. The important thing is she's coming back. Now I hate to be rude, but I need you two to leave. " He walked over to the door and opened it. "I'm tired and I need my rest."

Marinette just nodded her head and grabbed Adrien's hand. They went out the door and stood outside waiting for their ride.

Fu closed the door and let out a sigh. Wayzz was staring at him. His master was aware of something and for some reason was keeping it to himself.

"You know where she is, Master," the kwami spoke quietly.

"I may or I may not," Fu replied and looked back at Wayzz. "I just don't want to break their hearts."

"So is she not coming back?"

"Oh, she is. The wish worked. I'm going to take a nap. I'm tired." Fu then left the room. Wayzz let him be and accepted the fact Fu wasn't even going to tell him the truth.

Fu entered his room and closed the door behide him. He went over to his bed and pulled out a shoebox from underneath. He opened it and got out a newspaper article. It was about Mrs. Agreste's disappearance. He let out a sigh. If he was right about this all these years he could have ended it sooner.

Adrien watched the cars go by as they waited. Plagg was now hidden safely in his pocket. Thankfully there was plenty of Camembert at home for when he woke up. Despite the battle being over, he felt uneasy now that the kwami would be out for a little while.

The car arrived pretty quickly, and Adrien wondered if Marinette was going straight home. "Do you want to hang out a my house for a little bit?" He asked as they got into the car.

"Of course," she said with a smile.

When they got to his house, they went to his room. They placed the kwamis on one of his pillows on his bed and sat down the couch. Marinette sighed. "Are you mad at me?"

Adrien sighed. "No.. I was just really upset you didn't talk with me first. I know you usually make the plans and I just go along with them, but this was really personal. I would have liked a say in how we moved forward..."  

He wasn't sure if her talking to him first would have changed much, but at least he wouldn't have felt ganged up on.

"I just knew you would say no," she replied. "I'm really sorry." she leaned into the couch. There was no point on dwelling on it now. She tapped her fingers on her legs. "So now what..?"

He sighed. "It's fine," he answered. He followed her lead and leaned into the couch as well while moving closer to her.  What were they going to do now?  Their time as superheroes was over. So...?

"Well... I guess we get to do normal teenage things...?  Oh, we need to inform the public that Hawk Moth is no longer a threat. You'd have to do that, though.  They might make connections if I show up as Chat Noir with a cast."