The night was a heavy blanket of sadness as Gabriel stumbled into the Agreste Mansion.

This evening had felt like a storm inside him.

So while closing the door shut, this thought of sealing away the pain by his actions in that moment eased his mind a little.

Nevertheless, as the man turned around the shadows in the corners reminded him that he couldn't escape the hurt.

Each step upstairs on the huge marble staircase felt like walking through a memory that had turned sour.

The air held onto moments of joy that had now twisted into something painful.

As he entered his bedroom even the familiar things seemed like strangers in the dim light.

This was meant to be his place where he used to find comfort, find love and keep every memory, except in that moment the grey haired man's room seemed like an island of loneliness.

Regardless of this unwelcome feeling deep in his heart, he still sank onto his bed, letting the softness hug him like a friend...maybe wishing and imagining it was someone like Emilie...or...

With the door closed, he let the tears come.

The bed absorbed the sound of his sobs, and the walls, if they could talk, would try to comfort his poor soul, but the room was a silent witness to his heartache.

Gabriel wanted to let himself feel the pain, knowing that healing had to start from somewhere, but at the same time, it would've been impossible to heal from such a heartbreak in one night.

All that the designer could do as of right now was to lay there in the quiet room, grappling with the weight of his emotions

"Oh Emilie." He sighed "This is too much for me! This is too stupid of me!" With a deep breath, Gabriel summoned the strength to stand up.

The room seemed to hold echoes of his pain, but as he took that first step forward, he embraced the uncertain path ahead, knowing that each step would lead him further away from the heartbreak that lingered in the shadows...or did it?

"I'm an idiot!" The man rubbed his tired eyes before flicking on the bathroom light that was utterly and painful bright.

"Kill me." He murmured while starting his shower; letting the water cascade in a steady stream as well as heat up.

The sudden pleasant warmth felt as if it could wash away the residue of the night's emotional turbulence, but that wasn't the most convincing promise.

Nevertheless, after getting rid of the dirty damp clothes and standing beneath the unexpectedly comforting flow of his shower, Gabriel closed his eyes.

This was meant to be an attempt to drown out the noises of heartache that lingered in his mind, at least the water gently caressed his skin which almost felt as if it were cleansing him of the ache that had clung to him like a second skin.
So with each droplet that slid down his body, it was as if he sought to wash away the traces of the past, hoping to emerge refreshed and renewed.

After that the designer reached for a towel before wrapping it around himself and then stepping out of the spectacularly steamy shower.

The grey haired man didn't bother looking in the mirror because he knew it would reveal a face marked by the journey through the night which wasn't a pleasant one.

His eyes, weary, so he simply reached for a toothbrush and some toothpaste, that was easy enough to do.

Meanwhile, in the shadowy corner of the bathroom door which led into the man's bedroom was Nooroo, hiding.

He had been there hoping to see his owner in a little bit of a better mood maybe, which did come true, though he wasn't much happier than before.

The only positive changes were that the past breakdowns and storms of emotions weren't so visible on the designer's face.

Instead Gabriel's expression was dulled down to nothingness by his obvious exhaustion.

Therefore, quickly he ran a hand through his damp hair before taking a step back into the room where he'd put on his pijamas.

"Good night Master!" Nooroo wizzed around in the air the moment before his owner reached to turn off his bedside lamp.

"Good night." Gabriel returned coldly.

Once again he laid there, not asleep, yet not fully awake.

The grey haired man was lost in his thoughts while he stared at the ceiling without really seeing it.

His eyes, weren't so weary and swollen from tears as they were before, but if he'd reach to touch them, they would still be sensitive.

So closing his eyes and at last giving them a rest seemed like a good idea, but for some unexplainable reason the emptiness that had settled in his chest made Gabriel unable to rest.

The man's face even bore the mask of someone who had forgotten how to feel.

The lines etched on his forehead spoke of the weight he carried, and his eyes, once filled with warmth, looked like windows to a place untouched by sunlight.

Yet, he still couldn't allow himself to drift into a peaceful night of sleep.

The outside noises, muffled by the walls, filtered in like distant echoes.

The city, with its bustling life all of a sudden seemed like a parallel universe where emotions flowed freely in contrast to that room where the air itself carried the burden of his sorrow.

Suddenly, in the least expected moment, a quiet, weak voice emerged from the darkness.

"Master I can feel how terribly sad your emotions are." Nooroo whispered.

"I know." Was all Gabriel could say in return.

It was as if the man's heart had been turned to stone, as if his emotions would've been stolen away from him, or as if he was forbidden to express any form of joy.

"Nooroo" to everyone's surprise the grey haired man spoke again "you know Mayura's kwami don't you?"

His question sounded strange to the small butterfly at first, but he couldn't have not answered;

"I do master." The kwami hesitantly mumbled "why do you ask?"

"Well..." he took a deep breath in making Nooroo feel a tiny bit nervous as to what would be the next words of his master.
"You know she likes you."

"Pardon?!?!" The small kwami's voice shrieked.

Those words; "she likes you" echoed in his mind.

Shock coursed through him like a whirlwind of disbelief and realization colliding in the depths of his consciousness.

As the weight of this revelation settled, a subtle warmth spread across his cheeks, an involuntary response to the burgeoning realization.

Blushing, Nooroo found himself retracing memories, seeing them through a lens tinted with the hue of possibility.

"B-but that's not possible! P-Plus why would you bring this up now! It is all so bizarre!" his heart pulsed with a mix of surprise and the tender beginnings of acknowledgment, a blush becoming the canvas upon which the past and the present intertwined in a palette of evolving emotions.

"I felt that you're always by my side, so you know, you deserve to be aware of what Mayura told me." Gabriel smiled in the darkness which wasn't visible to his floating friend, nevertheless, Nooroo could somehow feel that a grin had spread across his owner's face.

"Oh." The man continued "I also have to say now that it is indeed possible for her to have feelings for you since that miraculous is damaged." He explained "The only issue is that you're not able to return those same feelings, right?"

"I-I-I am more concerned with the fact that this also means that they, Mayura and Duusu are both hurting from the miraculous!"

"R-right." Gabriel cleared his throat to switch to a more serious tone, or at least his kwami would've thought so, but he couldn't have been more wrong because the designer was just about to tease him a little more.

"Would you look at that deep worry this had gotten you into." The man chuckled "Are you sure you aren't overwhelmed of feelings Nooroo?"

"First of all we share emotions sir!" The small creature spat. "Second of all they are hurting!"

Nooroo's iridescent eyes glowed with intensity, he couldn't let an old friend of his go through such pain and not do anything about it.

Despite his quite funny little size, a profound sense of responsibility surged within him.

"Master I cannot stand around here and let minutes, hours or days pass by while I know that my-I MEAN-Duusu is hurting!"

"Were you about to say my Duusu?" Gabriel smirked and laughed. "Oh you're cute."

"Master!" For the first time in forever the butterfly's voice became stern and unexpectedly even made the designer shut up for a second.

"We must solve this!" Nooroo shouted "When a miraculous is broken it is a serious issue! They could even die because of it! And because we share emotions I know precisely well how destroyed you would feel if your little Mayura doesn't make it!"

To be continued-